LIBRARY 

OF  TK 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

GIFT   OF" 

Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALSWORTH. 

Received  October,  1894. 
Accessions  No .  •      Class  No. 


0.  0.  GROSVENOR, 


1 


THE 


LAWS  OF  FERMENTATION 


THE  WINES  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


REV.     WILLIAM     PATTO1ST,     D.D. 


"Each  age  of  the  Church  has,  as  it  were,  turned  over  a  new  leaf  in  the  Bible, 
and  found  a  response  to  its  own  wants.  We  have  a  leaf  to  turn — a  leaf  not  th« 
less  new  because  it  is  so  simple."— DEAN  STANLEY. 


NEW  YOKE:: 

NATIONAL  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY  AND  PUBLICATION  HOUSE, 

172    WILLIAM    STREET. 

1871. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1871,  by 

J.  N.  STEARNS, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  in  the  City  of  Washington,  D.  C. 


JOHJf  BOSS  A  CO.,  PBINTBBS,  27  BOSE  STBEIT,  NTW  TOBK. 


TO 

EDWAKD   C.  DELAY  AN,  ESQITIEE, 

THE 

INTREPID    AND   MUNIFICENT    PIONEER; 
TO 

THE    HON.  WILLIAM   A.  BUCKINGHAM, 

THE 

STEADFAST     AND     CONSISTENT     ADVOCATE ; 
TO 

THE  HON.  WILLIAM  E.  DODGE, 

THE 
ENERGETIC  AND  LIBERAL  PRESIDENT ; 

A  FAITHFUL*  TEIO, 

NOBLY       BATTLING       FOR        THE       RIGHT, 
IS  THIS  VOLUME  DEDICATED 

BY 

THEIR     EARNEST     CO-LABORER     IN     THE     GOOD     CAUSE     OF 
TEMPERANCE, 

WM.  PATTON. 

New  Haven,  Conn. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Introduction 7 

History 9 

The  Question 13 

Fermentation,  Laws  of 15 

Warm  Climate  and  Sweet  Fruits 18 

Palestine  a  Hot  Climate 19 

Sweet  is  the  Natural  Taste 22 

Fruits  Preserved 23 

Fermentation  Prevented — Authorities 24 

Methods  used  by  the  Ancients— Boiling  or  Inspissating,  Filtration,  Subsi- 
dence, Fumigation 26-39 

Ancients  called  these  Wine 41 

Wines  mixed  with  Water 48 

The  Scriptures— Generic  WTords 53 

Other  Hebrew  Words 58 

Greek,  Latin,  and  English  Generic  Words .        .  GO 

Classification  of  Texts— Bad  Wine,  Good  Wine 02-72 

The  Wine  of  Egypt .       .  72 

New  Wine  and  Old  Bottles 75 

Christ  Eating  and  Drinking 77 

1  he  Lord"    Supper 79 

Texts  in  Mark  and  Luke  examined 83 

Wedding  Wine  at  Cana 85 

Pentecost  Scene,  Acts  ii.  13      . 89 

Stumbling-blocks,  Rom.  xiv.  13 92 

Expediency 95 

Temperance 100 

Lord's  Supper  at  Corinth 100 

Various  Texts  examined .  .       * 103 

Charge  to  Timothy,  "  Not  Given  to  Wine." 106 

Paul's  Permission  to  Timothy  to  use  "A  Little  Wine" 108 

Charge  to  Deacons Ill 

Fermented  Wine  not  a  Creature  of  God 112 

Various  Texts  examined 116 

Testimonies— Professor  George   Bush,  Doctor  E.  Nott,   Professor  Moses 

Stuart,  and  Albert  Barnes 122 


THE  LAWS  OF  FERMENTATION, 


THE   WINES   OF   THE    ANCIENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

MY  design  is  not  originality.  It  is  to  collect  and  so  to 
arrange  the  facts  and  arguments,  under  their  appropriate 
heads,  as  to  facilitate  the  investigation  and  to  produce  the 
clearest  and  firmest  conviction. 

The  proofs  are  stated  on  the  authorities  to  which  they 
are  credited,  and  who  are  to  be  held  responsible  for  their 
accuracy.  Many,  however,  of  these  authorities  I  have 
verified  by  my  personal  examination,  and  to  these  I 
have  added  new  ones. 

The  use  made  of  the  facts,  as  well  as  the  reasonings 
connected  with  them,  is  obviously  my  own.  For  the 
exposition  of  many  passages  of  Scripture  I  must  be  held 
responsible.  .  My  simple  aim  is  to  present  this  important 
subject  in  a  manner  so  plain  that  all  readers  of  the  Bible 
may  understand  what  are  my  convictions  of  its  teachings 
on  the  subject  of  temperance,  and  particularly  of  the 
wine  question. 

It  can  hardly  be  expected  that  the  views  herein  ex- 
pressed will  satisfy  all.  But  all  will  bear  me  witness  that 
my  reasonings  are  conducted  in  candor,  and  with  due 
respect  to  those  from  whom  I  am  constrained  to  differ. 
Their  views  are  carefully  stated  in  their  own  chosen  Ian- 


THE   LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,   AND 

guage,  and  their  quoted  authorities  are  fairly  given. 
When  their  relevancy  is  questioned  or  their  inferences 
shown  to  be  illogical,  no  suspicion  of  motives  has  been 
allowed. 

Truth  gains  nothing  by  asperities ;  whilst  mere  dog- 
matism recoils  upon  itself.  The  contemptuous  treatment 
of  a  new  interpretation  of  the  sacred  text  is  no  proof 
that  it  is  not  true.  ONLY  THE  ORIGINAL  TEXT  is  INSPIRED. 
No  translation,  much  less  no  mere  human  interpretation, 
is  absolute  authority.  As  all  wisdom  has  not  died  with 
those  who  have  done  their  work  on  earth  and  gone  to 
heaven,  so  there  is  a  possibility  that  clearer  light  may 
yet  be  thrown  upon  the  inspired  page  which  will  give  a 
more  satisfactory  understanding  of  the  "Word  of  God. 

Every  honest  explorer  should  be  hailed  as  a  helper. 
The  truth  will  bear  searching  after,  and  when  found  it 
will  liberally  reward  the  most  diligent  and  patient  re- 
search. What  such  desire  is  to  know  the  truth.  It  may 
awaken  controversy.  If  it  is  conducted  in  the  spirit  of 
love  and  with  a  teachable  disposition,  it  will  harm  nobody, 
but  will  certainly  bless  many.  Most  things  are  kept 
bright  by  rubbing.  The  controversy  will  necessitate  a 
more  careful  study  of  the  Bible,  a  more  perfect  under- 
standing of  the  laws  of  nature  as  well  as  the  usages  of 
the  ancients.  The  truth  will  thus  be  developed,  and  it 
will  ultimately  triumph. 

The  Hebrew  and  Greek  words,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
general  reader,  are  written  in  English.  Where  the 
original  is  quoted,  a  translation  is  also  given. 

To  facilitate  more  extended  research,  and  to  verify  the 
quotations  made,  the  authors  and  the  pages  are  named. 

A  free  use  has  been  made  of  the  London  edition  of 
Dr.  ISTott's  Lectures  on  Biblical  Temperance,  printed  in 


THE   WINES    OF   THE   ANCIENTS.  9 

1863.  This  edition  was  published  under  the  careful  re- 
vision of  Dr.  F.  R.  Lees,  who  has  added  foot-notes  and 
five  very  valuable  and  critical  appendices.  It  is  also  ac- 
companied with  a  scholarly  introduction  by  Professor 
Tayler  Lewis,  LL.D.,  of  Union  College.  The  publication 
of  this  volume  in  this  country  would  subserve  the  cause 
of  temperance. 

The  Temperance  Bible  Commentary,  by  F.  K.  Lees  and 
D.  Burns,  published  in  London,  1868,  has  been  of  great 
service  to  me.  I  am  happy  thus  publicly  to  acknowledge 
my  indebtedness  to  it  for  much  judicious  and  critical  in- 
formation. I  am  happy  to  learn  that  it  has  recently  been 
stereotyped  in  this  country,  and  is  for  sale  by  the  National 
Temperance  Society.  A  copy  ought  to  be  in  the  hands 
of  every  temperance  man. 

HISTORY. 

My  interest  in  the  cause  of  temperance  was  awakened 
by  the  evidence  which  crowded  upon  me,  as  a  pastor  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  of  the  aboundings  of  intemperance. 
The  use  of  alcoholic  drinks  was  then  universal.  Liquor 
was  sold  by  the  glass  at  almost  every  corner.  It  stood 
on  every  sideboard,  and  was  urged  upon  every  visitor. 
It  was  spread  upon  every  table,  and  abounded  at  all  social 
gatherings.  It  found  a  conspicuous  place  at  nearly  every 
funeral.  It  ruled  in  every  workshop.  Many  merchants 
kept  it  in  their  counting-rooms,  and  offered  it  to  their 
customers  who  came  from  the  interior  to  purchase  goods. 
Men  in  all  the  learned  professions,  as  well  as  merchants, 
mechanics,  and  laborers,  fell  by  this  destroyer.  These  and 
other  facts  so  impressed  my  mind  that  I  determined  to 
make  them  the  subject,  of  a  sermon.  Accordingly,  on  the 


10  THE   LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,   AND 

Sabbath  evening  of  September  17,  1820,  I  preached 
on  the  subject  from  Romans  xii.  2:  "Be  not  con- 
formed to  this  world,"  etc.  After  a  statement  of  the  facts 
which  proved  the  great  prevalence  of  intemperance,  I 
branded  distilled  spirits  as  a  poison  because  of  their  effects 
upon  the  human  constitution ;  I  urged  that  therefore  the 
selling  of  them  should  be  stopped.  The  sermon  stated 
that,  "  whilst  the  drunkard  is  a  guilty  person,  the  retail 
seller  is  more  guilty,  the  wholesale  dealer  still  more  guilty, 
and  the  distiller  who  converts  the  staff  of  life,  the  benevo- 
lent gift  of  God,  into  the  arrows  of  death,  is  the  most 
guilty."  Then  followed  an  appeal  to  professors  of  reli- 
gion engaged  in  the  traffic  to  abandon  it. 

These  positions  were  treated  with  scorn  and  derision. 
A  portion  of  the  retail  dealers  threatened  personal  vio- 
lence if  I  dared  again  to  speak  on  this  subject. 

During  the  week,  a  merchant  who  had  found  one  of  his 
clerks  in  haunts  of  vice,  in  a  short  paragraph  in  a  daily 
paper,  exhorted  merchants  and  master-mechanics  to  look 
into  Walnut  Street,  Corlaer's  Hook,  if  they  would  know 
where  their  clerks  and  apprentices  spent  Saturday  nights. 
This  publication  determined  me,  in  company  with  some 
dozen  resolute  Christian  men,  to  explore  that  sink  of 
iniquity.  This  we  did  on  Saturday  night,  September  23, 
1820.  We  walked  that  short  street  for  two  hours  from 
ten  to  twelve  o'clock.  On  our  return  to  my  study,  we 
compared  notes,  and  became  satisfied  of  the  following  facts. 
On  one  side  of  Walnut  Street,  there  were  thirty  houses, 
and  each  one  was  a  drinking-place  with  an  open  bar. 
There  were  eleven  ball-rooms,  in  which  the  music  and 
dancing  were  constant.  We  counted  on  one  side  two 
hundred  and  ten  females,  and  at  the  same  time  on  the 
other  side  eighty-seven,  in  all,  two  hundred  and  ninety- 


THE   WINES   OP   THE   ANCIENTS.  11 

seven.  Their  ages  varied  from  fourteen  to  forty.  The 
men  far  outnumbered  the  women,  being  a  mixture  of 
sailors  and  landsmen,  and  of  diverse  nations.  Many  of 
them,  both  men  and  women,  were  fearfully  drunk,  and  all 
were  more  or  less  under  the  influence  of  liquor.  "We 
were  deeply  pained  at  the  sight  of  so  many  young  men, 
evidently  clerks  or  apprentices.  The  scenes  of  that  night 
made  a  permanent  impression  on  my  mind.  They  con- 
firmed my  purpose  to  do  all  in  my  power  to  save  my  fel- 
low-men  from  the  terrific  influences  of  intoxicating  drinks. 
I  began  promptly,  and  incorporated  in  a  sermon  the 
above  and  other  alarming  statistics  of  that  exploration, 
which  I  preached  on  the  evening  of  Sabbath,  Sept.  24, 
1 820,  notice  having  been  given  of  the  subject.  The  text  was 
Isa.  Iviii.  1 :  "  Cry  aloud,  and  spare  not ;  lift  up  thy  voice 
like  a  trumpet,"  etc.  My  first  topic  was  the  duty  of 
ministers  fearlessly  to  cry  out  against  prevailing  evils. 
The  second  topic  was  the  sins  of  the  day,  particularly 
Sabbath  desecration  and  drunkenness,  with  their  accesso- 
ries. After  a  statement  of  facts  and  other  arguments,  my 
appeal  was  made  to  the  Scriptures,  which  are  decided  and 
outspoken  against  intemperance.  The  house  was  crowded 
with  very  attentive  listeners.  ~No  disturbance  took  place. 
A  fearless,  honest  expression  of  sentiments,  if  made  in  the 
spirit  of  love  and  without  exasperating  denunciations, 
will  so  far  propitiate  an  audience  as  to  induce  them  to  hear 
the  argument  or  appeal. 

I  soon  found  that  the  concession  so  generally  made, 
even  by  ministers,  that  the  Bible  sanctions  the  use  of  in- 
toxicating drinks,  was  the  most  impregnable  citadel  into 
which  all  drinkers,  all  apologists  for  drinking,  and  all 
venders  of  the  article,  fled.  This  compelled  me,  thus  ear- 
ly, to  study  the  Bible  patiently  arid  carefully,  to  know 


12  THE   LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,    AND 

for  myself  its  exact  teachings.  I  collated  every  passage, 
and  found  that  they  would  range  under  three  heads : 
1.  Where  wine  was  mentioned  with  nothing  to  denote  its 
character;  2.  Where  it  was  spoken  of  as  the  .cause  of 
misery,  and  as  the  emblem  of  punishment  and  of  eternal 
wrath;  3.  Where  it  was  mentioned  as  a  blessing,  with 
corn  and  bread  and  oil — as  the  emblem  of  spiritual  mercies 
and  of  eternal  happiness.  These  results  deeply  impressed 
me,  and  forced  upon  me  the  question,  Must  there  not  have 
been  two  kinds  of  wine  f  So  novel  to  my  mind  was  this 
thought,  and  finding  no  confirmation  of  it  in  the  commen- 
taries to  which  I  had  access,  I  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to 
give  much  publicity  to  it — I  held  it  therefore  in  abeyance, 
hoping  for  more  light.  More  than  thirty-five  years  since, 
when  revising  the  study  of  Hebrew  with  Professor 
Seixas,  an  eminent  Hebrew  teacher,  I  submitted  to  him 
the  collation  of  texts  which  I  had  made,  with  the  request 
that  he  would  give  me  his  deliberate  opinion.  He  took 
the  manuscript,  and,  a  few  days  after,  returned  it  with  the 
statement,  "  Your  discriminations  are  just ;  they  denote 
that  there  were  two  kinds  of  wine,  and  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures justify  this  view."  Thus  fortified,  I  hesitated  no 
longer,  butj  by  sermons  and  addresses,  made  known  my 
convictions.  At  that  time,  I  knew  not  that  any  other 
person  held  this  view.  There  may  have  been  others  more 
competent  to  state  and  defend  them.  I  would  have  sat 
at  their  feet  with  great  joy  and  learned  of  them.  Such 
was  not  my  privilege.  From  that  day  to  this,  though 
strong  men  and  true  have  combated  them,  I  have  never 
wavered  in  my  convictions. 

The  publication  some  years  later  of  Bacchus  and  Anti- 
JSa-cchus  greatly  cheered  and  strengthened  me.  So  also  did 
the  lectures  of  the  Bev.  President  Nott,  with  the  confirma- 


THE    WINES    OF   THE   AXCIENTS.  13 

tory  letter  of  Professor  Moses  Stuart.  From  these  and 
other  works  I  learned  much,  as  they  made  me  acquainted 
with  authorities  and  proofs  which  I  had  not  previously 
known. 

THE    QUESTION. 

True  philosophy  is  based  upon  well-ascertained  facts. 
As  these  never  change,  so  the  philosophy  based  upon  them 
must  be  permanent.  The  laws  of  nature  are  facts  always 
and  everywhere  the  same.  Not  only  are  gravitation  and 
evaporation  the  same  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  but 
also  in  all  ages.  All  the  laws  of  nature  are  as  clearly  the 
expressions  of  the  divine  mind  as  are  the  inspired  writ- 
ings. God's  book  of  nature,  with  its  wonderful  laws,  and 
God's  book  of  revelation,  with  its  teachings,  must  be  har- 
monious when  they  treat  of  the  same  things. 

The  devout  Christian  has  nothing  to  fear  from  the  dis- 
coveries of  true  science.  Though  for  a  time  they  may  seem 
to  conflict  with  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  still,  when  more 
perfectly  understood,  it  will  be  found  that  science,  in  all 
its  departments,  is  the  true  and  faithful  handmaid  of 
revealed  religion. 

All  the  laws  which  God  has  established,  whether  writ- 
ten on  the  rocks  or  in  the  processes  of  nature,  are  in  exact 
harmony  with  the  inspired  records.  This  will  be  made 
apparent  when  the  interpretation  of  the  Bible,  and  the  facts 
of  science,  and  the  operation  of  the  laws  of  nature,  are 
more  thoroughly  understood. 

The  advocates  of  only  fermented  or  intoxicating  wines 
thus  state  their  positions  :  "  When  the  word  is  the  same, 
the  thing  is  the  same ;  if,  therefore,  wine  means  intoxicair 
ing  wine  when  applied  to  the  case  of  ISToah  and  Lot,  it 


14  THE  LAWS   OF   FERMENTATION,   AND 

must  Lave  meant  the  same  when  used  by  David  in  the 
Psalms,  and  so  of  its  correspondent  in  the  Gospel  narrative 
of  the  changing  of  water  into  wine."  "  As  Noah  and 
others  got  drunk  with  yayin  (wine),  yayin  must  in  every 
text  mean  a  fermented  liquor.''  "  The  word  wine  is  un- 
deniably applied  in  the  Bible  to  a  drink  that  intoxicated 
men :  therefore  the  word  always  and  necessarily  means 
intoxicating  liquor."  "  The  juice  of  the  grape  when  call- 
ed wine  was  always  fermented,  and,  being  fermented,  was 
always  intoxicating."  "  Fermentation  is  of  the  essence  of 
wine."  "  This  word  (yayin)  denotes  intoxicating  wine 
in  some  places  of  Scripture ;  it  denotes  the  same  in  all 
places  of  Scripture."  "  There  is  but  one  kind  of  wine-  - 
for  wine  is  defined  in  the  dictionaries  as  the  fermenttd 
juice  of  the  grape  only."  These  statements  are  clear  and 
explicit.  But  it  seems  to  me  that,  by  a  very  summary 
and  strange  logic,  they  beg  the  whole  question,  and  shut 
out  all  discussion.  I  am  not  disposed  to  surrender  the 
argument  to  such  sweeping  declarations.  At  present  I 
quote  a  few  counter-statements. 

Dr.  Ure,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Arts,  says,  "  Juice  when 
newly  expressed,  and  before  it  has  begun  fo  ferment,  is 
called  must,  and  in  common  language  new  wine" — Bible 
Commentary,  xxxvii.  Littleton,  in  his  Latin  Dictionary 
(1678),  "Mustum  vinum  cadis  recens  inclusam.  Gleukos, 
oinos  neos.  Must,  new  wine,  close  shut  up  and  not  per- 
mitted to  work.'' — Bible  Commentary,  xxxvi. 

Chambers 's  Cyclopaedia,  sixth  edition  (1750) :  "  Sweet 
wine  is  that  which  has  not  yet  fermented.*' — Bible  Com- 
mentary, xxxvii. 

Bees'  Cyclopaedia  :  "  Sweet  wine  is  that  which  has  not 
yet  worked  or  fermented." 

Dr.  Noah  Webster :  "  Wine,  the  fermented  juice  of 


THE   WINES    OF   THE   ANCIENTS.  15 

grapes."  Must,  "  Wine,  pressed  from  the  grape,  but  not 
fermented. " 

Worcester  gives  the  same  definitions  as  Webster.  Both 
these  later  authorities  substantially  follow  Johnson, 
Walker,  and  Bailey. 

Professor  Charles  Anthon,  LL.D.,  in  his  Dictionary  of 
Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,  article  Vinum,  says,  "  The 
sweet  unfermented  juice  of  the  grape  was  termed  gleukos." 

One  more  authority :  it  is  Dr.  Wm.  Smith's  Dictionary 
of  the  Bible,  the  most  recent  one,  published  and  edited  in 
this  country  by  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Barnum,  of  New  Haven, 
Conn.  Article  Wine,  page  1189,  says,  "  A  certain  amount 
of  juice  exuded  from  the  ripe  fruit  from  its  own  pressure 
before  the  treading  commenced.  This  appears  to  have  been 
kept  separate  from  the  rest  of  the  juice,  and  to  have  formed 
the  sweet  wine  (  Greek,  g^euJcos,  A.  Y.  new  wine)  noticed 
in  Acts  ii.  13."  Again  he  says,  "  The  wine  was  sometimes 
preserved  in  its  unfermented  state  and  drunk  as  must." 
Again,  "  Very  likely,  new  wine  was  preserved  in  the  state 
of  must  by  placing  it  in  jars  or  bottles,  and  then  burying 
it  in  the  earth." 

These  authorities  I  now  use  as  a  sufficient  offset  to  the 
unqualified  statements  already  quoted.  They  prove  that 
there  are  two  sides  to  this  question :  Were  there  among  the 
ancients  two  kinds  of  wine,  the  fermented,  and  the  unfer- 
mented ? 


FEKMENTA       ^ 

r  *«*. 


The  laws  of  fermentation  are  fixed  facts,  operating 
always  in  the  same  way,  and  requiring  always  and  every- 
where the  same  conditions. 


16  THE   LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,   AND 

Donavan,  in  his  work  on  Domestic  Economy  (in  Lard- 
tier's  Cyclopaedia),  says : 

"  1.  There  must  be  saccharine  (sugar)  matter  and 
gluten  (yeast). 

"2.  The  temperature  should  not  be  below  50°  nor 
above  TO0  or  75°. 

"  3.  The  juice  must  be  of  a  certain  consistence.  Thick 
syrup  will  not  undergo  vinous  fermentation.  An  excess 
of  sugar  is  unfavorable  to  this  process ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  too  little  sugar,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  too 
much  water,  will  be  deficient  in  the  necessary  quantity 
of  saccharine  matter  to  produce  a  liquor  that  will  keep, 
and  for  want  of  more  spirit  the  vinous  fermentation 
will  almost  instantly  be  followed  by  the  acetous. 

"  4.  The  quantity  of  gluten  or  ferment  must  also  be 
well  regulated.  Too  much  or  too  little  will  impede  and 
prevent  fermentation." — Anti-Bacchus,  p.  162.  Dr.  Ure, 
the  eminent  chemist,  fully  confirms  this  statement  of 
Professor  Donavan. — Anti-Bacchus,  p.  225. 

The  indispensable  conditions  for  vinous  fermentation 
are  the  exact  proportions  of  sugar,  of  gluten  or  yeast,  and 
of  water,  with  the  temperature  of  the  air  ranging  between 
50°  and  75°. 

Particularly  notice  that  a  "  thick  syrup  will  not  undergo 
vinous  fermentation,  and  that  an  excess  of  sugar  is  unfavor- 
able to  this  process."  But  it  will  undergo  the  acetous,  and 
become  sour.  This  our  wives  understaud.  For,  when 
their  sweetmeats  ferment,  they  do  not  produce  alcohol,  but 
become  acid,  sour.  This  is  not  a  secondary,  but  the  first 
and  only  fermentation — by  the  inevitable  law  that  where 
there  is  a  superabundance  of  saccharine  matter  and  more 
than  75°  of  heat,  then  the  vinous  fermentation  does 
not  take  place,  but  the  acetous  will  certainly  and  imme- 


TIIE   WINES    OF   THE   ANCIENTS.  17 

diately  commence.     It  may  be  well  to  notice  just  here  a 
few  items  in  relation  to  the  production  of  alcohol. 

Count  Chaptal,  the  eminent  French  chemist,  says, 
"  Nature  never  forms  spirituous  liquors ;  she  rots  the 
grape  upon  the  branch;  but  it  is  .art  which  converts 
the  juice  into  (alcoholic)  wine"—JBi1>le  Commentary, 
p.  370. 

Professor  Turner,  in  his  Chemistry,  says  of  alcohol, 
"  It  does  not  exist  ready  formed  in  plants,  but  is  a  pro- 
duct of  the  vinous  fermentation." — Bible  Commentary, 
p.  3TO. 

Adam  Fabroni,  an  Italian  writer,  born  1732,  says, 
"  Grape-juice  does  not  ferment  in  the  grape  itself." — 
Bible  Commentary,  p.  xxxix. 

Dr.  Pereira  (Elements  of  Materia  Medica,  p.  1221), 
speaking  of  the  manufacture  of  wine,  says :  "  Grape- 
juice  does  not  ferment  in  the  grape  itself.  This  is  owing 
not  (solely)  as  Fabroni  supposed,  to  the  gluten  being 
contained  in  distinct  cells  to  those  in  which  the  saccharine 
juice  is  lodged,  but  to  the  exclusion  of  atmospheric  oxygen, 
the  contact  of  which,  Gay  Lussac  has  shown,  is  (first) 
necessary  to  effect  some  change  in  the  gluten,  whereby 
it  is  enabled  to  set  up  the  process  of  fermentation.  The 
expressed  juice  of  the  grape,  called  must  (mustum), 
readily  undergoes  vinous  fermentation  when  subjected  to 
the  temperature  of  between  60°  and  70°  F.  It  becomes 
thick,  muddy,  and  warm,  and  evolves  carbonic  acid  gas." 
— Nott,  London  Ed.,  F.  K.  Lees,  Appendix  B,  p.  197. 

Professor  Liebig,  the  eminent  chemist,  remarks :  "  It  is 
contrary  to  all  sober  rules  of  research  to  regard  the  vital 
process  of  an  animal  or  a  plant  as  the  cause  of  fermentation. 
The  opinion  that  they  take  any  share  in  the  morbid  pro- 
cess must  be  rejected  as  an  hypothesis  destitute  of  all 


18  THE   LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,   AND 

support.  In  all  fungi,  analysis  has  detected  the  presence 
of  sugar,  which  during  their  vital  process  is  NOT  resolved 
into  alcohol  and  carbonic  acid ;  but,  after  their  death,  from 
the  moment  a  change  in  their  color  and  consistency  is  per- 
ceived, the  vinous  fermentation  sets  in.  It  is  the  very 
reverse  of  the  vital  process  to  which  this  effect  must  be 
ascribed.' '  "Fermentation,  putrefaction,  and  decay  are 
processes  of  decomposition." — Bible  Commentary,  xxxix. 

WARM   CLIMATE   AND    SWEET   FRUITS. 

"We  all  know  that  a  cold  season  gives  us  sour  straw- 
berries, peaches,  etc.,  and  that  a  hot  season  produces 
sweeter  and  higher-flavored  fruits.  The  sugar-cane  will 
not  yield  rich,  sweet  juice  in  a  cold  climate,  but  matures 
it  abundantly  in  hot  countries.  Heat  is  an  essential 
element  in  the  production  of  large  quantities  of  sugar. 
In  climates,  then,  where  the  temperature  at  the  vintage  is 
above  75°,  and  the  saccharine  matter  preponderates,  the 
vinous  fermentation,  if  the  juice  is  in  its  natural  condition, 
cannot  proceed,  but  the  acetous  must  directly  commence. 
It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  "the  grapes  of  Palestine, 
Asia  Minor,  and  Egypt  are  exceedingly  sweet.'7 — A.-B. 
p.  203. 

Mandelslo,  who  lived  A.D.  1640,  speaking  of  palm 
wine,  says,  "  To  get  out  the  juice,  they  go  up  to  the  top  of 
the  tree,  where  they  make  an  incision  in  the  bark,  and 
fasten  under  it  an  earthen  pot,  which  they  leave  there  all 
night,  in  which  time  it  is  filled  with  a  certain  sweet  liquor 
very  pleasant  to  the  taste.  They  get  out  some  also  in  the 
day-time,  but  that  (owing  to  the  great  heat)  corrupts 
immediately  ;  it  is  good  only  for  vinegar,  which  is  all  the 
use  they  make  of  it." — Kitto,  vol.  i.  p.  585.  Here,  true 


THE   WINES   OP  THE   ANCIENTS.  19 

to  tlie  law  wliicli  God  has  fixed,  this  juice,  so  largely 
saccharine  in  this  hot  climate,  immediately  turns  sour. 

A  Mohammedan  traveller,  A. D.  850,  states  that  "palm 
wine,  if  drunk  fresh,  is  sweet  like  lioney  ;  but  if  kept  it 
turns  to  vinegar." — Kitto,  vol.  i.  p.  585. 

Adam  Fabroni,  already  quoted,  treating  of  Jewish  hus- 
bandry, informs  us  that  the  palm-tree,  which  particularly 
abounded  in  the  vicinity  of  Jericho  and  Engedi,  also 
served  to  make  a  very  sweet  wine,  which  is  made  all  over 
the  East,  being  called  palm  wine  by  the  Latins,  and  syra 
in  India,  from  the  Persian  shir,  which  means  luscious 
liquor  or  drink." — Kitto,  vol.  i.  p.  588. 

Similar  statements  are  made  by  Capt.  Cook,  Dr.  Shaw, 
Sir  G.  T.  Temple,  and  others  as  quoted  by  Kitto. 

The  Eev.  Dr.  Mullen,  Foreign  Secretary  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society,  and  long  a  missionary  in  Persia,  stated 
at  the  meeting  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  at  Brooklyn,  Oct.,  18TO, 
that  the  nations  draw  from  the  palm-tree  the  juice,  which 
they  boil,  and  of  which  they  also  make  sugar. 

The  Hon.  I.  S.  Diehl,  a  traveller  in  Persia  and  other 
Eastern  lands,  at  a  meeting  of  ministers  in  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  stated  that  the  inhabitants  made  good  use  of  the 
juice  of  the  palm-tree,  which  they  collect  as  above-named, 
which  they  boil  to  preserve  it ;  of  it  they  make  sugar,  and 
that  foreigners  have  taught  them  to  make  an  intoxicating 
drink. 

PALESTINE   A   HOT   CLIMATE. 

The  blessing  which  the  patriarch  Jacob  pronounced 
upon  Judah  contains  this  remarkable  prediction,  Gen. 
xlix.  11 :  "  Binding  his  foal  unto  the  vine,  and  his  ass's 
colt  unto  the  choice  vine ;  he  washed  his  garments  in  wine, 


20  THE   LAWS    OP   FERMENTATION,   AND 

and  his  clothes  in  the  blood  of  grapes."  Thus  the  future 
territory  of  Judah's  descendants  was  to  be  so  prolific  of 
strong  vines  that  domestic  animals  could  everywhere  be 
hitched  to  them.  The  vines  were  to  be  so  fruitful  that 
the  garments  of  the  inhabitants  could  be  washed  in  their 
juices.  God's  promise  to  the  Hebrews.  Deut.  viii.  7,  8,  was, 
u  For  the  Lord  thy  God  bringeth  thee  into  a  good  land, 
a  laud  of  brooks  of  water,  of  fountains  and  depths 
that  spring  out  of  valleys  and  hills;  a  land  of  wheat, 
and  barley,  and  vines,  and  fig-trees,  and  pomegranates ;  a 
land  of  oil  olive,  and  honey."  "We  also  read  that  Rabshakeh 
said  to  the  Jews,  2  Kings  xviii.  32,  "  I  come  and  take  you 
away  to  a  land  like  your  own  land,  a  land  of  corn  and  wine, 
a  land  of  bread  and  vineyards,  a  land  of  oil  olive  and  of 
honey."  These  texts  settle  the  fact  that  Palestine  abounded 
in  sweet  fruits — that  the  Hebrews  cultivated  the  grape 
and  made  wine. 

Dr.  Jahn,  professor  of  Oriental  languages  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Yienna,  in  his  Biblical  Archaeology,  first  pub- 
lished in  this  country  from  the  Latin  abridgment  of  1814, 
says :  "  The  Hebrews  were  diligent  in  the  cultivation  of 
vineyards,  and  the  soil  of  Palestine  yielded  in  great  quan- 
tities the  best  of  wine.  The  mountains  of  Engedi  in  par- 
ticular, the  valley  of  the  salt-pits,  and  the  valleys  of  Esh- 
col  and  Sorek  were  celebrated  for  their  grapes."  "In 
Palestine,  even  at  the  present  day,  the  clusters  of  the 
vine  grow  to  the  weight  of  twelve  pounds ;  they  have  large 
grapes,  and  cannot  be  carried  far  by  one  man  without  be- 
ing injured.  (Num.  xiii.  24,  25.)  The  grapes  are  mostly 
red  or  black ;  whence  originated  the  phrase  "  blood  of  the 
grapes."  (Gen.  xxix.  11 ;  Deut.  xxxii.  14 ;  Isa.  xxvii.  2.)  In 
NoitL  xiii.  23,  we  read  of  "  one  cluster  of  grapes  from  Esh- 
col "  borne  by  two  men  upon  a  staif.  "  Clusters  weighing 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  21 

from  twenty  to  forty  pounds  are  still  seen  in  various  parts 
of  Syria."  "  Kau  affirms,  p.  458,  that  he  saw  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Hebron  grapes  as  large  as  one's  thumb."  "  Dan- 
dini,  although  an  Italian,  was  astonished  at  the  large  size  to 
which  grapes  attained  in  Lebanon,  being,  he  says  (p.  79),  as 
large  as  prunes."  "  Mariti  (iii.  134)  affirms  that  in  different 
parts  of  Syria  he  had  seen  grapes  of  such  extraordinary 
size  that  a  bunch  of  them  would  be  a  sufficient  burden 
for  one  man."  "Neitchutz  states  he  could  say  with 
truth  that  in  the  mountains  of  Israel  he  saw  and  had  eaten 
from  bunches  of  grapes  that  were  half  an  ell  long,  and  the 
grapes  two  joints  of  a  finger  in  length."  "  A  bunch  of 
Syrian  grapes  produced  at  "Welbeck,  England,  sent  from 
the  Duke  of  Portland  to  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham 
weighed  nineteen  pounds,  its  diameter  nineteen  inches  and 
a  half,  its  circumference  four  feet  and  a  half,  its  length 
nearly  twenty-three  inches.  It  was  borne  to  the  Marquis 
on  a  staff  by  two  laborers." — Bible  Commentary,  p.  46, 
note. 

Thomas  Hartwell  Home,  in  his  Introduction  to  the 
Study  of  the  Bible,  vol.  iii.  p.  28,  says  of  Palestine, 
"  The  summers  are  dry  and  extremely  hot."  He  quotes 
Dr.  E.  D.  Clarke  that  his  thermometer,  sheltered  from 
the  sun,  "  remained  at  100°  Fahrenheit."  He  states  "  that 
from  the  beginning  of  June  to  the  beginning  of  August, 
the  heat  of  the  weather  increases,  and  the  nights  are  so 
warm  that  the  inhabitants  sleep"  on  their  house-tops  in  the 
open  air ;  that  the  hot  season  is  from  the  beginning 
of  August  to  the  beginning  of  October ;  and  that  during 
the  chief  part  of  this  season  the  heat  is  intense,  though 
less  so  at  Jerusalem  than  in  the  plain  of  Jericho :  there  is  no 
cold,  not  even  in  the  night,  so  that  travellers  pass  whole 
nights  in  the  open  air  without  inconvenience.  These 


22  THE    LAWS    OF    FERMENTATION,    AND 

statements  are  fully  confirmed  by  Rev.  J.  W.  Nevin." — 
Bible  Antiquities,  and  other  authorities. 

In  the  summer  of  1867,  Captain  "Wilson,  of  the  English 
exploring  expedition  in  Palestine,  states  "  that  the  ther- 
mometer after  sunset  stood  at  110°  Fahrenheit  in  July  at 
Ain,  the  ancient  Engedi."  Captain  Warren,  of  the  same 
expedition,  "  was  compelled  by  the  ill-health  of  his  party 
during  the  summer  heat  at  Jerusalem  to  retreat  to  the 
Lebanon  range." — Advance,  February  3,  1870. 

Chemical  science  prohibits  the  vinous  fermentation  if 
the  heat  exceeds  75°,  and  ensures  the  acetous  if  above  75°. 
Also,  that  very  sweet  juices,  having  an  excess  of  sugar,  are 
unfavorable  to  vinous  fermentation,  but  are  favorable  to 
the  acetous.  The  valleys  of  Eshcol  and  Sorek  were  fa- 
mous for  their  luscious  grapes ;  but  the  temperature  there 
in  the  vintage  months  was  100°. 

SWEET   IS   THE   NATURAL   TASTE. 

Sweet  is  grateful  to  the  new-born  infant.  It  is  loved 
by  the  youth,  by  the  middle-aged,  and  by  the  aged.  This 
taste  never  dies.  In  strict  keeping  with  this,  we  find  that 
the  articles,  in  their  great  variety,  which  constitute  the 
healthful  diet  of  man,  are  palatable  by  reason  of  their 
sweetness.  Even  of  the  flesh  of  fish  and  birds  and  animals 
we  say,  "  How  sweet ! " 

Whilst  this  taste  is  universal,  it  is  intensified  in  hot 
climates.  It  is  a  well-authenticated  fact  that  the  love  of 
sweet  drinks  is  a  passion  among  Orientals.  For  alcohol, 
in  all  its  combinations,  the  taste  is  unnatural  and  wholly 
acquired.  To  the  natural  instinct  it  is  universally  re- 
pugnant. 

I  do  therefore  most  earnestly  protest  that  it  is  neither 


THE   WINES   OP  THE   ANCIENTS.  23 

fair,  nor  honest,  nor  philosophical,  to  make  the  acquired, 
vitiated  taste  of  this  alcoholic  age,  and  in  cold  climates, 
the  standard  by  which  to  test  the  taste  of  the  ancients 
who  lived  in  hot  countries;  and,  because  we  love  and 
use  alcoholic  drinks,  therefore  conclude  that  the  ancients 
must  also  have  loved  and  used  them,  and  only  them. 

FRUITS   PRESERVED. 

As  grapes  and  other  fruits  were  so  important  a  part  of 
the  food  of  the  ancients,  they  would,  by  necessity,  invent 
methods  for  preserving  them  fresh.  Josephus,  in  his 
Jewish  Wars,  b.  vii.  c.  viii.  s.  4,  makes  mention  of  a 
fortress  in  Palestine  called  Masada,  built  by  Herod. 
"  For  here  was  laid  up  corn  in  large  quantities,  and  such 
as  would  subsist  men  for  a  long  time :  here  was  also  wine 
and  oil  in  abundance,  with  all  kinds  of  pulse  and  dates 
heaped  up  together.  These  fruits  were  also  fresh  and  full 
ripe,  and  no  way  inferior  to  such  fruits  newly  laid  in,  al- 
though they  were  little  short  of  a  hundred  years  from 
the  laying  in  of  these  provisions." 

In  a  foot-note  William  Whiston,  the  translator,  says : 
"  Pliny  and  others  confirm  this  strange  paradox,  that  pro- 
visions thus  laid  up  against  sieges  will  continue  good  an 
hundred  years,  as  Spanheim  notes  upon  this  place." 

Swineburn  says  "  that  in  Spain  they  also  have  the  se- 
cret of  preserving  grapes  sound  and  juicy  from  one  sea- 
son to  another. — Bible  Commentary,  p.  278. 

Mr.  E.  C.  Delavan  states  that  when  he  was  in  Florence, 
Italy,  Signor  Pippini,  one  of  the  largest  wine  manufac- 
turers, told  him  "  that  he  had  then  in  his  lofts,  for  the  use 
of  his  table,  until  the  next  vintage,  a  quantity  of  grapes 
sufficient  to  make  one  hundred  gallons  of  wine;  that 


24  THE   LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,    AND 

grapes  could  always  be  had,  at  any  time  of  the  year,  to 
make  any  desirable  quantity ;  and  that  there  was  nothing 
in  the  way  of  obtaining  the  fruit  of  the  vine  free  from 
fermentation  in  wine  countries  at  any  period.  A  large 
basket  of  grapes  wras  sent  to  my  lodgings,  which  were  as 
delicious,  and  looked  as  fresh,  as  if  recently  taken  from 
the  vines,  though  they  had  been  picked  for  months." — 
Bible  Commentary,  p.  278.  Rev.  Dr.  II.  Duff,  in  his 
Travels  through  the  South  of  Europe,  most  fully  con- 
firms this  view. — Nott,  London  Ed.  p.  57,  note. 

FERMENTATION    PREVENTED. 

Professor  Donavan,  in  his  work  on  Domestic  Economy, 
mentions  three  methods  by  which  all  fermentation  could  be 
prevented : 

"  1.  Grape-juice  will  not  ferment  when  the  air  is  com- 
pletely excluded. 

"  2.  By  boiling  down  the  juice,  or,  in  other  words,  evap- 
orating the  water,  the  substance  becomes  a  syrup,  which  if 
very  thick  will  not  ferment. 

"  3.  If  the  juice  be  filtered  and  deprived  of  its  gluten,  or 
ferment,  the  production  of  alcohol  will  be  impossible." 
— Anti-Bacchus,  p.  1G2. 

Dr.  Ure,  the  eminent  chemist,  says  that  fermentation 
may  be  tempered  or  stopped : 

"  1.  By  those  means  which  render  the  yeast  inoperative, 
particularly  by  the  oils  that  contain  sulphur,  as  oil  of 
mustard,  as  also  by  the  sulphurous  and  sulphuric  acids. 

"  2.  By  the  separation  of  the  yeast,  either  by  the  filter  or 
subsidence. 


TUE   WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  25 

"3.  By  lowering  the  temperature  to  45°.  If  the  ferment- 
ing mass  becomes  clear  at  this  temperature  and  be  drawn 
off  from  the  subsided  yeast,  it  will  not  ferment  again, 
though  it  should  be  heated  to  the  proper  pitch." — Anti- 
Bacchus,  p.  225. . 

Baron  Liebig,  in  his  Letters  on  Chemistry,  says :  "  If  a 
flask  be  filled  with  grape-juice  and  made  air-tight,  and 
then  kept  for  a  few  hours  in  boiling  water,  THE  WINE  does 
not  now  ferment.'7 — Bible  Commentary,  xxxvii.  Here 
we  have  two  of  the  preventives,  viz.,  the  exclusion  of  the 
air,  and  the  raising  of  the  temperature  to  the  boiling 
point. 

The  unalterable  laws  of  nature,  which  are  the  laws  of 
God,  teach  these  stern  facts  : 

1.  That  very  sweet  juices  and  thick  syrups  will  not 
undergo  the  vinous  fermentation. 

2.  That  the  direct  and  inevitable  fermentation  of  the 
sweet  juices,  in  hot  climates  with  the  temperature  above 
75°,  will  be  the  acetous. 

3.  That  to  secure  the  vinous  fermentation  the  tempera- 
ture must  be  between  50°  and  75°,  and  that  the  exact 
proportions  of  sugar  and  gluten  and  water  must  be  se- 
cured. 

4.  That  all  fermentation  may  be  prevented  by  excluding 
the  air,  by  boiling,  by  filtration,  by  subsidence,  and  by  the 
use  of  sulphur. 

DID   THE   ANCIENTS   USE   METHODS    TO    TEESEKVE   THE 
JUICES    SWEET? 

Augustine  Calmet,  the  learned  author  of  the  Dictionary 
of  the  Bible,  born  1672,  says :  "  The  ancients  possessed  the 
secret  of  preserving  wines  sweet  throughout  the  whole 


20  THE    LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,    AND 

year."  If  they  were  alcoholic,  they  would  preserve  them- 
selves. The  peculiarity  was  preserving  them  sweet.  Che- 
mistry tells  us  that  the  juice  loses  it  sweetness  when,  by 
fermentation,  the  sugar  is  converted  into  alcohol.  Pre- 
serving them  sweet  throughout  the  whole  year  meant 
preserving  them  unferrnented. 

Chemical  science  instructs  us  that  by  reason  of  the  great 
sweetness  of  the  juice  and  the  heat  of  the  climate  at  the 
vintage,  the  vinous  fermentation  would  be  precluded,  and 
that,  unless  by  some  method  prevented,  the  acetous  would 
certainly  and  speedily  commence.  Four  modes  were 
known  and  practised  by  the  ancients  which  modern  che- 
mical science  confirms. 


BOILING,    OK   INSPISSATING. 

By  this  process  the  water  is  evaporated,  thus  leaving 
so  large  a  portion  of  sugar  as  to  prevent  fermentation. 

Herman  Boerhave,  born  1668,  in  his  Elements  of  Chein- 
istry,  says,  "  By  boiling,  the  juice  of  the  richest  grapes 
loses  all  its  aptitude  for  fermentation,  and  may  afterwards 
be  preserved  for  years  without  undergoing  any  further 
change." — Noli,  London  Edition,  p.  81. 

Says  Liebig,  "  The  property  of  organic  substances  to 
pass  into  a  state  of  decay  is  annihilated  in  all  cases  by 
heating  to  the  boiling  point."  The  grape-juice  boils  at 
212°  ;  but  alcohol  evaporates  at  170°,  which  is  42°  below 
the  boiling  point.  So  then,  if  any  possible  portion  of 
alcohol  was  in  the  juice,  this  process  would  expel  it.  The 
obvious  object  of  boiling  the  juice  was  to  preserve  it  sweet 
and  fit  for  use  during  the  year. 

Parkinson,  in  his  Theatrum  Botanicum,  says:  uThe 
juice  or  liquor  pressed  out  of  the  ripe  grapes  is  called 


T1IE    WINES    OP   THE    ANCIENTS.  27 

vinum  (wine).  Of  it  is  made  both,  sapa  and  defrutum, 
in  English  cute,  that  is  to  say,  BOILED  WINE,  the  latter 
boiled  down  to  the  half,  the  former  to  the  third  part."— 
Bible  Commentary,  xxxvi.  This  testimony  was  written 
about  A.D.  1640,  centuries  before  there  was  any  temper- 
ance agitation. 

Archbishop  Potter,  born  A.D.  1674,  in  his  Grecian 
Antiquities,  Edinburgh  edition,  1813,  says,  vol.  ii.  p.  360, 
"  The  Lacedsemonians  used  to  boil  their  wines  upon  the 
fire  till  the  fifth  part  was  consumed ;  then  after  four  years 
were  expired  began  to  drink  them."  He  refers  to  Demo- 
critus,  a  celebrated  philosopher,  who  travelled  over  the 
greater  part  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  and  who  died 
361  B.C.,  also  to  Palladius,  a  Greek  physician,  as  making 
a  similar  statement.  These  ancient  authorities  called  the 
boiled  juice  of  the  grape  wine,  and  the  learned  arch- 
bishop brings  forward  their  testimony  without  the  slight- 
est intimation  that  the  boiled  juice  was  not  wine  in  the 
judgment  of  the  ancients. 

Aristotle,  born  384  B.C.,  says,  "  The  wine  of  Arcadia 
was  so  thick  that  it  was  necessary  to  scrape  it  from  the 
skin  bottles  in  which  it  was  contained,  and  to  dissolve  the 
scrapings  in  water." — Bible  Commentary^  p.  295,  and 
Nott,  London  Edition,  p.  80. 

Columilla  and  other  writers  who  were  contemporary 
with  the  apostles  inform  us  that  "  in  Italy  and  Greece  it 
was  common  to  boil  their  wines." — Dr.  Nott. 

Some  of  the  celebrated  Opimian  wine  mentioned  by 
Pliny  had,  in  his  day,  two  centuries  after  its  production, 
the  consistence  of  honey.  Professor  Donavan  says,  "  In 
order  to  preserve  their  wines  to  these  ages,  the  Romans 
concentrated  the  must  or  grape-juice,  of  which  they  were 
made,  by  evaporation,  either  spontaneous  in  the  air  or 


28  THE    LAWS    OF    FERMENTATION,    AND 

over  a  fire,  and  so  much,  so  as  to  render  them  thick  and 
syrupy." — Bible  Commentary,  p.  295. 

Horace,  born  65  B.C.,  says  ';  there  is  no  wine  sweeter  to 
drink  than  Lesbian ;  that  it  was  like  nectar,  and  more 
resembled  ambrosia  than  wine;  that  it  was  perfectly 
harmless,  and  would  not  produce  intoxication." — Anti- 
Bacchus,  p.  220. 

Yirgil,  born  70  B.C.,  in  his  Georgic,  lib.  i.  line  295, 
says : 

"  Aut  dulcis  musti  Vulcano  decoquit  humorem, 
Et  foliis  undam  tepidi  despumat  aheni." 

Thus  rendered  by  Dr.  Joseph  Trapp,  of  Oxford  Univer- 
sity : 

"  Or  of  sweet  must  boils  do\vn  the  luscious  juice, 
And  skims  with  leaves  the  trembling  caldron's  flood." 

More  literally  translated  thus  by  Alexander :  "  Or  with 
the  fire  boils  away  the  moisture  of  the  sweet  wine,  and 
with  leaves  scums  the  surge  of  the  tepid  caldron." 

W.  G.  Brown,  who  travelled  extensively  in  Africa, 
Egypt, and  Syria  from  A.D.  1792  to  1798,  states  that  "the 
wines  of  Syria  are  most  of  them  prepared  by  .boiling 
immediately  after  they  are  expressed  from  the  grape,  till 
they  are  considerably  reduced  in  quantity,  when  they  were 
put  into  jars  or  large  bottles  and  preserved  for  use. 
lie  adds,  "  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  this  mode  of 
boiling  was  a  general  practice  among  the  ancients." 

Yolney,  1788,  in  his  Travels  in  Syria,  vol.  ii.  chap.  29, 
says  :  "  The  wines  are  of  three  sorts,  the  red,  the  white, 
and  the  yellow.  The  white,  which  are  the  most  rare,  are 
so  bitter  as  to  be  disagreeable ;  the  two  others,  on  the 
contrary,  are  too  sweet  and  sugary.  This  arises  from  their 


THE   WINES    OP   THE   ANCIENTS.  29 

being  lotted,  which  makes  them  resemble  the  baked  wines 
of  Provence.  The  general  custom  of  the  country  is  to 
reduce  the  must  to  two-thirds  of  its  quantity."  "  The 
most  esteemed  is  produced  from  the  hillside  of  Zonk — it  is 
too  sugary."  "  Such  are  the  wines  of  Lebanon,  so  boasted 
by  Grecian  and  Koman  epicures."  "  It  is  probable  that 
the  inhabitants  of  Lebanon  have  made  no  change  in  their 
ancient  method  of  making  wines." — Bacchus,  p.  374,  note. 

Dr.  Bowring,  in  his  report  on  the  commerce  of  Syria, 
praises,  as  of  excellent  quality,  a  wine  of  Lebanon  con- 
sumed in  some  of  the  convents  of  Lebanon,  known  by  the 
name  of  vino  d'or — golden  wine.  (Is  this  the  yellow  wine 
which  Yolney  says  is  too  sweet  and  sugary  ?)  But  the 
Doctor  adds  "  that  the  habit  of  boiling  wine  is  almost  uni- 
versal."—J^ta?,  ii.  956. 

Caspar  Neuman,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry,  Berlin, 
1759,  says  :  "  It  is  observable  that  when  sweet  juices  are 
boiled  down  to  a  thick  consistence,  they  not  only  do  not 
ferment  in  that  state,  but  are  not  easily  brought  into  fer- 
mentation when  diluted  with  as  much  water  as  they  had 
lost  in  the  evaporation,  or  even  with  the  very  individual 
water  that  exhaled  from  them." — Nott,  Lond.  Ed.,  p.  81. 

Adams'  Roman  Antiquities,  first  published  in  Edin- 
burgh, 1791,  on  the  authority  of  Pliny  and  Yirgil,  says : 
"  In  order  to  make  wine  keep,  they  used  to  boil  (decon- 
quere)  the  must  down  to  one-half,  when  it  was  called 
defrutum,  to  one-third,  sapa." 

Smith's  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities :  "  A  consider- 
able quantity  of  must  from  the  best  and  oldest  vines  was 
inspissated  by  boiling,  being  then  distinguished  by  the 
Greeks  under  the  general  name  Epsuma  or  Gleuxis,  while 
the  Latin  writers  have  various  terms,  according  to  the 
extent  to  which  the  evaporation  was  carried ;  as  Carenum, 


30  THE    LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,    AND 

one-third ;  defrutum,  one-half;  and  sapa,  two-thirds."  Pro- 
fessor Anthon,  in  his  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities^ 
makes  the  same  statement. 

Cyrus  Heading,  in  his  History  of  Modem  Wines,  says  : 
"  On  Mount  Lebanon,  at  Kesroan,  good  wines  are  made, 
but  they  are  for  the  most  part  vins  cuit  (boiled  wines). 
The  wine  is  preserved  in  jars." — Kitto,  ii.  956. 

Dr.  A.  Russell,  in  his  Natural  History  of  Aleppo,  con- 
siders its  wine  (Ilelbon)  to  have  been  a  species  of  sapa. 
He  says :  "  The  inspissated  juice  of  the  grape,  sapa  vina, 
called  here  dibbs,  is  brought  to  the  city  in  skins  and  sold 
in  the  public  markets ;  it  lias  much  the  appearance  of 
coarse  honey,  is  of  a  sweet  taste,  and  in  great  use  among 
the  people  of  all  sorts."— Kitto,  ii.  950. 

Leiber,  who  visited  Crete  in  1817,  says :  "  When  the 
Venetians  were  masters  of  the  island,  great  quantities  of 
wine  were  produced  at  Eettimo  and  Candia,  and  it  was 
made  by  boiling  in  large  coppers,  as  I  myself  observed." 
—Nott. 

Mr.  Robert  Alsop,  a  minister  among  the  Society  of 
Friends,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  F.  R.  Lees  in  1861,  says :  "  The 
syrup  of  grape-juice  is  an  article  of  domestic  manufac- 
ture in  most  every  house  in  the  vine  districts  of  the  south 
of  France.  It  is  simply  the  juice  of  the  grape  boiled 
down  to  the  consistence  of  treacle." — Bible  Com.,  p. 
xxxiv. 

Rev.  Dr.  Eli  Smith,  American  missionary  in  Syria,  in 
the  Bibliotlieca  Sacra  for  November,  1846,  describes  the 
methods  of  making  wine  in  Mount  Lebanon  as  numerous, 
but  reduces  them  to  three  classes :  1.  The  simple  juice 
of  the  grape  is  fermented.  2.  The  juice  of  the  grape  is 
boiled  down  before  fermentation.  3.  The  grapes  are 
partially  dried  in  the  sun  before  being  pressed.  "With 


THE    WINES    OP   THE   ANCIENTS.  31 


characteristic  candor,  lie  states  tliat  lie  "had  very  little  to 
do  with  wines  all  his  life,  and  that  his  knowledge  on  the 
subject  was  very  vague  until  he  entered  upon  the  present 
investigation  for  the  purpose  of  writing  the  article."  He 
further  as  candidly  confesses  that  the  "  statements  contained 
in  his  article  are  not  full  in  every  point ;"  that  "  it  was 
written  in  a  country  where  it  was  very  difficult  to  obtain 
authentic  and  exact  information."  Of  the  vineyards,  he 
further  states  that  in  "  an  unbroken  space,  about  two 
miles  long  by  half  a  mile  wide,  only  a  few  gallons  of  in- 
toxicating wine  are  made.  The  wine  made  is  an  item 
of  no  consideration ;  it  is  not  the  most  important,  but 
rather  the  least  so,  of  all  the  objects  for  which  the  vine  is 
cultivated."  He  also  states  that  "  the  only  form  in  which, 
the  unfermented  juice  of  the  grape  is  preserved  is  that  of 
dibbs,  which  may  be  called  grape-molasses"  Dr.  E. 
Smith  here  confirms  the  ancient  usage  of  boiling  the 
unfermented  juice  of  the  grape.  The  ancients  called  it 
wine  ;  the  present  inhabitants  call  it  dibbs ;  and  Dr.  E. 
Smith  calls  it  grape-molasses.  It  is  the  same  thing  under 
these  various  designations.  "A  rose  may  smell  as  sweet 
by  any  other  name." 

The  Rev.  Henry  Holmes,  American  missionary  to  Con- 
stantinople, in  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra  for  May,  1848, 
gives  the  result  of  his  observation.  He  wrote  two  years 
subsequently  to  Dr.  Eli  Smith,  and  has  supplied  what 
was  lacking  in  Dr.  E.  Smith's  statements  which  were 
"  not  full  on  every  point."  He  did  not  rely  upon  infor- 
mation from  others,  but  personally  examined  for  himself, 
and  in  every  case  obtained  exact  and  authentic  knowledge. 
He  says :  "  Simple  grape-juice,  without  the  addition  of 
any  earth  to  neutralize  the  acidity,  is  boiled  from  four  to 
five  hours,  so  as  to  reduce  it  ONE-FOURTH  the  quantity  put 


S2  THE    LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION     AND 

*. 

in.  After  the  boiling,  for  preserving  it  cool,  and  that  it 
be  less  liable  to  ferment,  it  is  put  into  earthen  instead  of 
wooden  vessels,  closely  tied  over  with  skin  to  exclude  the 
air.  It  ordinarily  has  not  a  particle  of  intoxicating  qual- 
ity, being  used  freely  by  both  Mohammedans  and  Chris- 
tians. Some  which  I  have  had  on  hand  for  two  years  has 
undergone  no  change."  "  The  manner  of  making  and 
preserving  this  unfermented  grape-liquor  seems  to  corre- 
spond with  the  receipts  and  descriptions  of  certain  drinks 
included  by  some  of  the  ancients  under  the  appellation  of 
wine." 

"  The  fabricating  of  an  intoxicating  liquor  was  never 
the  chief  object  for  which  the  grape  was  cultivated  among 
the  Jews.  Joined  with  bread,  fruits,  and  the  olive-tree, 
the  three  might  well  be  representatives  of  the  productions 
most  essential  to  them,  at  the  same  time  that*  they  were 
the  most  abundantly  provided  for  the  support  of  life." 
He  mentions  sixteen  uses  of  the  grape,  wine-making 
being  the  least  important.  "I  have  asked  Christians 
from  Diarbekir,  Aintab,  and  other  places  in  the  interior 
of  Asia  Minor,  and  all  concur  in  the  same  statement." 

Dr.  Eli  Smith,  as  above,  testifies  that  "wine  is  not 
the  most  important,  but  the  least,  of  all  the  objects  for 
which  the  vine  is  cultivated."  These  statements  are  fully 
confirmed  by  the  Rev.  Smylie  Robson,  a  missionary  to 
the  Jews  of  Syria,  who  travelled  extensively  in  the  moun- 
tains in  Lebanon,  as  may  be  seen  by  his  letters  from 
Damascus  and  published  in  the  Irish  Presbyterian  Mis- 
sionary Herald  of  April  and  May,  1845. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Jacobus,  commenting  on  the  wine  made 
by  Christ,  says:  "This  wine  was  not  that  fermented 
liquor  which  passes  now  under  that  name.  All  who 
know  of  the  wines  then  used  will  understand  rather  the 


THE   WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  33 

nnfermented  juice  of  the  grape.  The  present  wines  of 
Jerusalem  and  Lebanon,  as  we  tasted  them,  were  com- 
monly boiled  and  sweet,  without  intoxicating  qualities, 
such  as  we  here  get  in  liquors  called  wines.  The  boiling 
prevents  the  fermentation.  Those  were  esteemed  the 
best  wines  which  were  least  strong." 

The  ancients  had  a  motive  for  boiling  the  unfermented 
juice.  They  knew  from  experience  that  the  juice,  by 
reason  of  the  heat  of  the  climate  and  the  sweetness  of 
the  grapes,  would  speedily  turn  sour.  To  preserve  it 
sweet,  they  naturally  resorted  to  the  simple  and  easy 
method  of  boiling. 

The  art  of  distillation  was  then  unknown ;  it  was  not 
discovered  till  the  ninth  century. 

FILTRATION. 

By  nitration,  the  gluten  or  yeast  is  separated  from  the 
juice  of  the  grape.  Whilst  the  juice  will  pass  through 
the  filtering  implements,  the  gluten  will  not,  and,  being 
thus  separated,  the  necessary  conditions  of  fermentation 
are  destroyed. 

Donavan,  already  quoted,  states  that,  "  if  the  juice  be 
filtered  and  deprived  of  its  gluten  or  ferment,  the  pro- 
duction of  alcohol  is  impossible."  Dr.  Ure  says,  as  pre- 
viously stated,  that  fermentation  may  be  prevented  "  by 
the  separation  of  the  yeast  either  by  the  filter  or  by  sub- 
sidence." 

The  ancient  writers,  when  speaking  of  the  removal  of 
the  vim,  vi,  vires,  that  is,  the  potency  or  fermentable 
power  of  the  wine,  use  the  following  strong  words :  eunu- 
chrum,  castratum,  effoeminatum — thus  expressing  the 
thoroughness  of  the  process  by  which  all  fermentation 


84  THE   LAWS    OP   FERMENTATION,    AND 

was  destroyed. — A.-B.  224.  Plutarch,  born  A.D.  CO, 
in  Irs  Symposium,  says :  "Wine  is  rendered  old  or  feeble 
in  strength  when  it  is  frequently  filtered.  The  strength 
or  spirit  being  thus  excluded,  the  wine  neither  inflames 
the  brain  nor  infests  the  rnind  and  the  passions,  and  is 
much  more  pleasant  to  drink." — Bible  Com.  p.  278.  In 
this  passage,  we  are  instructed  that  the  filter  was  not  a 
mere  strainer,  such  as  the  milkmaid  uses,  but  was  such 
an  instrument  as  forced  the  elements  of  the  grape-juice 
asunder,  separating  the  gluten,  and  thus  taking  away  the 
strength,  the  spirit,  which  inflames  the  head  and  infests 
the  passions. 

Pliny,  liber  xxiii.  cap.  24,  says  :  "  Utilissimum  (vinum) 
omnibus  sacco  viribus  fractis.  The  most  useful  wine  has 
all  its  force  or  strength  broken  by  the  filter." — Bible 
Commentary,  pp.  168  and  211. 

Others  hold  that  the  true  rendering  is  :  "  For  all  the 
sick,  the  wine  is  most  useful  when  its  forces  have  been 
broken  by  the  strainer."  This  does  not  relieve  the  diffi- 
culty ;  for,  when  the  forces  of  the  wine,  which  is  the 
alcohol,  have  been  broken  (fractis,  from  frango,  to  break  in 
pieces,  to  dash  to  pieces),  what  then  is  left  but  the  pure  juice  ? 
The  next  sentence  of  Pliny  clearly  states  that  the  vires  or 
forces  of  the  wine  are  produced  by  fermentation :  "  Memi- 
nerimus  succum  esse  qui  fervendo  vires  e  inusto  sibi 
fecerit."  "  We  must  bear  in  mind  that  there  is  a  succus, 
which,  by  fermenting,  would  make  to  itself  a  vires  out 
of  the  must."  The  succus  represents  the  gluten  or  yeast, 
the  detention  of  which  in  the  filter  would  effectually  pre- 
vent all  fermentation. — Nott,  Edition  by  F.  R.  Lees,  p. 
211.  The  strainer  (saccus)  separates  the  gluten ;  for  in 
no  other  way  can  it  break  the  forces,  the  fermenting  power. 
Smith,  in  his  Greek  and  Roman  An  t-iquities,  says :  "  The 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  35 

use  of  the  saccus  (filter),  it  was  believed,  diminished  the 
strength  of  the  liquor.  For  this  reason  it  was  employed 
by  the  dissipated  in  order  that  they  might  be  able  to 
swallow  a  greater  quantity  without  becoming  intoxicated." 
Again  :  "  A  great  quantity  of  sweet  wines  was  manufac- 
tured by  checking  the  fermentation."  Prof.  C.  Anthon 
makes  a  similar  statement  in  his  Dictionary  of  Greek 
and  JRoman  Antiquities. 

Again,  Pliny:  "Inveterari  vina  saccisque  castrari." 
"  Wines  were  rendered  old  and  castrated  or  deprived  of 
all  their  vigor  by  filtering." — Nott,  London  Ed. 

"  Ut  plus  capiamus  vini  sacco  frangimur  vires ;"  that 
we  may  drink  the  more  wine,  we  break  in  pieces,  vires, 
the  strength  or  spirit,  sacco,  by  the  filter.  He  adds  that 
they  practised  various  incentives  to  increase  their  thirst. 
— Bible  Commentary,  p.  168. 

On  the  words  of  Horace,  "  vina  liques/'  Car.  lib.  i. 
ode  ii.,  the  Delpliin  Notes  says :  "  Be  careful  to  prepare 
for  yourself  wine  percolated  and  defecated  by  the  filter, 
and  thus  rendered  sweet  and  more  in  accordance  to  nature 
and  a  female  taste."  Again  :  "  The  ancients  filtered  and 
defecated  their  must  repeatedly  before  they  could  have 
fermented ;  and  thus  the  feces  which  nourish  the  strength 
of  the  wine  being  taken  away,  they  rendered  the  wine 
itself  more  liquid^  weaker,  lighter  and  sweeter,  and  more 
pleasant  to  drink." — Bible  Commentary,  p.  108,  and 
NoU,  London  Edition,  p.  79. 

Captain  Treat,  in  1845,  wrote:  ""When  on  the  south 
coast  of  Italy,  last  Christmas,  I  enquired  particularly 
about  the  wines  in  common  use,  and  found  that  those 
esteemed  the  best  were  sweet  and  unintoxicating.  The 
boiled  juice  of  the  grape^  is  in  common  use  in  Sicily. 
The  Calabrians  keep  their  intoxicating  and  unintoxicating 


36  THE   LAWS    OF   FEKMEXTATION,    AND 

wines  in  separate  apartments.  The  bottles  were  generally 
marked.  From  enquiries,  I  found  that  unfermented 
wines  were  esteemed  the  most.  It  was  drunk  mixed  with 
water.  Great  pains  were  taken  in  the  vintage  season  to 
have  a  good  stock  of  it  laid  by.  The  grape-juice  was 
filtered  two  or  three  times,  and  then  bottled,  and  some 
put  in  casks  and  buried  in  the  earth — some  kept  in  water 
(to  prevent  fermentation). — Dr.  Lees*  Works,  vol.  ii. 
p.  144. 

Gluten  is  as  indispensable  to  fermentation,  whether 
vinous  or  acetous,  as  is  sugar.  It  is  a  most  insoluble 
body  until  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  oxygen  of  the 
atmosphere ;  but  by  frequent  filtering  of  the  newly- 
pressed  juice,  the  gluten  is  separated  from  the  juice,  and 
thus  fermentation  prevented. 

SUBSIDENCE. 

Chemical  science  teaches  that  the  gluten  may  be  so 
effectually  separated  from  the  juice  by  subsidence  as  to 
prevent  fermentation.  The  gluten,  being  heavier  than 
the  juice,  will  settle  to  the  bottom  by  its  own  weight  if 
the  mass  can  be  kept  from  fermentation  for  a  limited 
period.  Chemistry  tells  us  that,  if  the  juice  is  kept  at  a 
temperature  below  45°,  it  will  not  ferment.  The  juice 
being  kept  cool,  the  gluten  will  settle  to  the  bottom,  and 
the  juice,  thus  deprived  of  the  gluten,  cannot  ferment. 
Dr.  Ure  says :  "  By  lowering  the  temperature  to  45°,  if 
the  fermenting  mass  becomes  clear  at  this  temperature 
and  be  drawn  off  from  the  subsided  yeast,  it  will  not 
ferment  again,  though  it  should  be  heated  to  the  propel 
pitch." — Bible  Commentary,  p.  168. 

Pliny ^  liber  xiv.  c.  9,  when  speaking  of  a  wine  called 


THE   WINES    OF   THE   ANCIEXTS.  37 

Aigleuces,  that  is,  always  sweet,  says :  "  Id  evenit  cura." 
"  That  wine  is  produced  by  care."  He  then  gives  the 
method :  "  Mergunt  earn  protinus  in  aqua  cados  donee 
bruma  transeat  et  consuetudo  fiat  algendi."  "  They 
plunge  the  casks,  immediately  after  they  are  filled  from 
the  vat,  into  water,  until  winter  has  passed  away  and 
the  wine  has  acquired  the  habit  of  being  cold." — JS/itto, 
ii.  955 ;  A.-B.  217 ;  Smith's  Antiquities.  Being  kept 
below  45°,  the  gluten  settled  to  the  bottom,  and  thus 
fermentation  was  prevented. 

Columella  gives  the  receipt :  "  Vinum  dulce  sic  facere 
oportet."  "  Gather  the  grapes  and  expose  them  for  three 
days  to  the  sun  ;  on  the  fourth,  at  mid-day,  tread  them ; 
take  the  mustum  lixivium  ;  that  is,  the  juice  which  flows 
into  the  lake  before  you  use  the  press,  and,  when  it  has 
settled,  add  one  ounce  of  powdered  iris ;  strain  the  wine 
from  its  faeces,  and  pour  it  into  a  vessel.  This  wine  will 
be  sweet,  firm  or  durable,  and  healthy  to  the  body.'' — 
Nott,  London  Ed.  213 ;  A.-B.  216. 

We  notice  in  this  receipt :  1,  the  lixivium,  which  the 
lexicon  (Leverett)  defines  "  must,  which  flows  sponta- 
neously from  grapes  before  they  are  pressed  ;"  2,  this  is 
allowed  to  settle,  the  gluten  thus  subsiding ;  3,  pounded 
iris  is  put  into  the  juice,  and  then  it  is  strained  or  fil- 
tered. Here  are  three  combiued  operations  to  prevent 
fermentation. 

The  same  author,  liber  xii.  cap.  29  (see  Nott  and  A.- 
B.  216),  mentions  a  receipt :  "  That  your  must  may 
always  be  as  sweet  as  when  it  is  new,  thus  proceed: 
Before  you  apply  the  press  to  the  fruit,  take  the  newest 
must  from  the  lake,  put  into  a  new  amphora,  bung  it  up, 
and^  cover  it  very  carefully  with  pitch,  lest  any  water 
should  enter;  then  immerse  it  in  a  cistern  or  pond  of 


38  THE   LAWS    OP   FERMENTATION,    AND 

pure  cold  water,  and  allow  no  part  of  the  amphora  to 
remain  above  the  surface.  After  forty  days,  take  it  out, 
and  it  will  remain  sweet  for  a  year."  Prof.  C.  Anthon 
gives  the  same  receipt  in  his  Dictionary  of  Greek  and 
Roman  Antiquities.  We  here  notice  :  1,  that  the  new- 
est— the  unfermented  juice — is  taken ;  2,  it  is  put  in  a  new 
amphora  or  jar  free  from  all  ferment  from  former  use ; 
3,  the  air  is  perfectly  excluded ;  4,  it  is  immersed  in  cold 
water  for  forty  days.  Being  below  45°,  fermentation 
could  not  commence.  Thus  there  was  ample  time  for  the 
gluten  to  settle  at  the  bottom,  thus  leaving  the  juice  pure 
and  sweet. 

Columella,  liber  xii.  cap.  51,  gives  a  receipt  for  mak- 
ing oleum  gleucinum :  "  To  about  ninety  pints  of  the 
best  must  in  a  barrel,  eighty  pounds  of  oil  are  to  be  added, 
and  a  small  bag  of  spices  sunk  to  the  place  where  the  oil 
and  wine  meet ;  the  oil  to  be  poured  off  on  the  ninth 
day.  The  spices  in  the  bag  are  to  be  pounded  and  re- 
placed, filling  up  the  cask  with  another  eighty  pounds  of 
oil;  this  oil  to  be  drawn  off  after  seven  days." — Bible 
Commentary,  p.  297.  Here  notice :  1,  The  best  must — 
the  unfermented  juice — is  taken ;  2,  This,  when  in  the  cask, 
is  covered  with  oil,  which  excludes  the  air  from  the  juice ; 

3,  A  bag  of  spices  is  placed  in  contact  with  the  juice ; 

4,  After  nine  days,  in  which  the  gluten  would  settle,  the 
oil  is  poured  off;  5,  The  spices  are  pounded  and  replaced, 
oil  again  is  poured  in,  to  remain  seven  days,  and  then 
drawn  off,  leaving  the  juice  pure  and  unfermented. 

The  ancients  preserved  some  of  their  wines  by  depu- 
rating them.  u  The  must,  or  new  wine,"  says  Mr.  T.  S. 
Carr,  "  was  refined  with  the  yolks  of  pigeon  eggs  (^Ro- 
man Antiquities),  which  occasioned  the  subsidence  of  the 
albumen  or  ferment.  But  on  the  new  wine  being  allowed 


THE   WINES    OF   THE   AXCTENTS.  89 

to  stand,  this  principle  would  subside  by  natural  gravity ; 
hence  the  ancients  poured  off  the  upper  and  luscious  por- 
tion of  the  wine  into  another  vessel,  repeating  the  process 
as  often  as  necessary,  until  they  procured  a  clear,  sweet 
wine  which  would  keep." — Kitto,  ii.  955. 

Harmer,  on  the  authority  of  Charden,  observes  that  "  in 
the  East  they  frequently  pour  wine  from  vessel  to  vessel ; 
for  when  they  begin  one,  they  are  obliged  immediately  to 
empty  it  into  smaller  vessels  or  into  bottles,  or  it  would 
grow  sour.'*  Chemistry  teaches  that  sweet  juices  in  hot 
climates,  if  left  to  themselves,  immediately  pass  into  the 
acetous  fermentation  and  become  sour.  To  avoid  this  the 
above  process  was  adopted. 

FUMIGATION. 

Df.  Ure  states  that  fermentation  may  be  stopped  by 
the  application  or  admixture  of  substances  containing 
sulphur;  that  the  operation  consists  partly  in  absorbing 
oxygen,  whereby  the  elimination  of  the  yeasty  particles 
is  prevented.  Adams  in  his  Roman  Antiquities ',  on  the 
authority  of  Pliny  and  others,  says  "  that  the  Romans 
fumigated  their  wines  with  the  fumes  of  sulphur;  that 
they  also  mixed  with  the  mustum,  newly  pressed  juice, 
yolks  of  eggs,  and  other  articles  containing  sulphur. 
"When  thus  defaecabantur  (from  defseco,  c  to  cleanse  from 
the  dregs,  to  strain  through  a  strainer,  refine,  purify,  defe- 
cate'), it  was  poured  (diffusum)  into  smaller  vessels  or 
casks  covered  over  with  pitch,  and  bunged  or  stopped  up." 

Gardiner,  in  his  Dictionary  of  the  Arts,  article  "Wine, 
says :  "  The  way  to  preserve  new  wine,  in  the  state  of 
must,  is  to  put  it  up  in  very  strong  but  small  casks,  firmly 
closed  on  all  sides,  by  which  means  it  will  be  kept  from 


40  THE    LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,   AND 

fermenting.  But  if  it  should  happen  to  fall  into  fermen- 
tation, the  only  way  to  stop  it  is  by  the  fumes  of  sul- 
phur"— Thayer,  p.  22. 

Here  we  notice  two  important  facts.  The  first  is,  that 
the  exclusion  of  the  air  from  the  fresh  juice  will  prevent 
fermentation.  The  second  is,  that,  when  fermentation  has 
commenced,  the  furnes  of  sulphur  will  arrest  it.  How 
more  certainly  it  will  prevent  fermentation  if  applied  to 
the  new  wine. 

Cyrus  Reading  says  of  sulphur,  "  Its  object  is  to  im- 
part to  wine  clearness  and  the  principle  of  preservation, 
and  to  prevent  fermentation." — Nott,  London  Ed.  p.  82. 

Mr.  T.  S.  Carr  says  that  the  application  of  the  fuma- 
rium  to  the  mellowing  of  wines  was  borrowed  from  the 
Asiatics,  and  that  the  exhalation  would  go  on  until  the 
wine  was  reduced  to  the  state  of  a  syrup." — Kitto,  ii.  956. 

"  Such  preparations,"  says  Sir  Edward  Barry,  "  are 
made  by  the  modern  Turks,  which  they  frequently  carry 
with  them  on  long  journeys,  and  occasionally  take  as  a 
strengthening  and  reviving  cordial.'7 — Kitto,  ii.  956. 

"  In  the  London  Encyclopaedia  '  stum '  is  termed  an  un- 
fermented  wine ;  to  prevent  it  from  fermenting,  the  casks 
are  matched,  or  have  brimstone  burnt  in  them." — Nott, 
London  Ed.  p.  82. 

Count  Dandalo,  on  the  Art  of  Preserving  the  Wines  of 
Italy,  first  published  at  Milan,  1812,  says,  "  The  last  pro- 
cess in  wine-making  is  sulphurization  :  its  object  is  to  se- 
cure the  most  long-continued  preservation  of  all  wines, 
even  of  the  very  commonest  sort." — Nott. 

A  familiar  illustration  and  confirmation  may  be  had 
from  the  expressed  juice  of  the  apple.  If  the  fresh  un- 
fermeuted  apple-juice  is  not  cider,  what  is  it  ?  Every  boy, 
straw  in  hand,  knows  that  it  is  cider — so  does  every  far- 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  4] 

mer  and  housewife.  After  it  lias  fermented,  it  is  also 
called  cider.  It,  is  a  generic  word,  applicable  to  the 
juice  of  the  apple  in  all  its  stages,  just  as  yayin  in  the 
Hebrew,  oinos  in  the  Greek,  vinum  in  the  Latin,  and 
wine  in  English  are  generic  words,  and  denote  the  juice  of 
the  grape  in  all  conditions.  "When  the  barrel  is  filled  with 
the  fresh  nnfermented  juice  of  the  apple,  add  sulphur,  or 
mustard-seed,  make  the  barrel  air-tight,  and  keep  it  where 
it  is  cold,  and  fermentation  will  not  take  place.  When 
the  gluten  has  subsided  and,  by  its  specific  gravity,  has 
settled  at  the  bottom,  the  pure  unfermented  juice  may 
be  bottled  and  kept  sweet.  This,  men  call  cider ;  they 
have  no  other  name  for  it. 

In  all  these  four  methods,  but  one  object  is  sought — it 
is  to  preserve  the  juice  sweet. 

DID   THE   ANCIENTS    USE    AND    OALL    THEM   WINE? 

In  all  the  extracts  we  have  made  in  the  preceding 
pages,  the  writers  call  the  grape-juice  wine,  whether 
boiled  or  filtered,  or  subsided  or  fumigated.  It  may  be 
well  again  to  refer  to  a  few  cases. 

Pliny  says  the  "  Roman  wines  were  as  thick  as  honey," 
also  that  the  "  Albanian  wine  was  very  sweet  or  lus- 
cious, and  that  it  took  the  third  rank  among  all  the  wines." 
He  also  tells  of  a  Spanish  wine  in  his  day,  called  "  inerti- 
culum" — that  is,  would  not  intoxicate — from  "iners," 
inert,  without  force  or  spirit,  more  properly  termed  "  jns- 
ticus  sobriani,"  sober  wine,  which  would  not  inebriate. 
— Anti-Bac.  p.  221. 

According  to  Plautus,  B.C.  200,  even  -inustum  signified 
both  wine  and  sweet  wine.— Nott,  London  Ed.  p.  78. 

Nicander  says:    "And  ^Enens,  having  squeezed  the 


42  THE   LAWS    OP    FERMENTATION,   AND 

juice  into  hollow  cups,  called  it  wine  (oiuon)." — NoU, 
p.  78.  "  The  Greeks  as  well  as  the  Hebrews  called  the 
fresh  juice  wine." — Nott,  London  Ed.  p.  78. 

Columella  says  the  Greeks  called  this  unintoxicating 
wine  "  Amethyston,"  from  Alpha,  negative,  and  methusis, 
intoxicate — that  is,  a  wine  which  would  not  intoxicate. 
He  adds  that  it  was  a  good  wine,  harmless,  and  called 
"  iners,"  because  it  would  not  aifect  the  nerves,  but  at 
the  same  time  it  was  not  deficient  in  flavor. — A.-B. 
p.  221. 

Aristotle  says  of  sweet  w^ine,  glukus,  that  it  would  not 
intoxicate.  And  that  the  wine  of  Arcadia  was  so  thick 
that  it  was  necessary  to  scrape  it  from  the  skin  bottles  in 
which  it  was  contained,  and  dissolve  the  scrapings  in 
water. — Nott,  London  Ed.  p.  80. 

Homer  (Odyssey,  book  ix.)  tells  us  that  Ulysses  took  in 
his  boat  "  a  goat-skin  of  sweet  black  wine,  a  divine  drink, 
which  Marion,  the  priest  of  Apollo,  had  given  him — it 
was  sweet  as  honey — it  was  imperishable,  or  would  keep 
for  ever;  that  when  it  was  drunk,  it  was  diluted  with 
twenty  parts  water,  and  that  from  it  a  sweet  and  divine 
odor  exhaled." — Nott,  London  Ed.  p.  55. 

Horace,  liber  i.  ode  xviii.  line  21,  thus  wrote : 

"  Hie  innocentis  pocula  Lesbii 
Duces  sub  umbra." 

Professor  Christopher  Smart,  of  Pembroke  College,  Cam- 
bridge, England,  more  than  a  hundred  years  since,  when 
there  was  no  controversy  about  fermented  or  unfermented 
wines,  thus  translated  this  passage :  "  Here  shall  you 
quaff,  under  a  shade,  cups  of  unintoxicating  wine." 

Again,  we  read  in  Horace,  liber,  iii.  ode  viii.  line  9 : 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  43 


"  Hie  dies,  anno  redeunte,  festus, 
Corticeni  adstrictum  pice  divomebifc 
Amphorae  fumum  bibere  institute 
Consule  Tullo. 


*'  Sume,  Maecenas,  cyathos  amici 
Sospitis  centum  ;  et  vigiles  lucernas 
Perfor  in  lucem  :  procul  omnis  csto 
Clamor  et  ira." 


I  take  again  the  translation  of  Professor  Smart :  "  Tliis 
day,  sacred  in  the  revolving  year,  shall  remove  the  cork 
fastened  with  pitch  from  that  jar  which  was  set  to  fu- 
migate in  the  consulship  of  Tullus.  Take,  my  Maecenas, 
an  hundred  glasses,  on  account  of  the  safety  of  your  friend, 
and  continue  the  wakeful  lamps  even  to  daylight :  all 
clamor  and  passion  be  far  away." 

This  Horace  calls  wine — it  was  fumigated — the  am- 
phora was  corked  and  fastened  with  pitch,  and  that  an 
hundred  glasses  might  be  drunk  without  clamor  or  pas- 
sion. The  DelpJiin  Notes  to  Horace  state,  "  The  ancients 
filtered  their  wines  repeatedly,  before  they  could  have  fer- 
mented." 

Athenseus  says :  "  The  sweet  wine  (gl/ukus),  which 
among  the  Sicilians  is  called  Pollian,  may  be  the  same  as 
the  Biblinos  oinos"  "  Sweet  kinds  of  wines  (oinos) 
do  not  make  the  head  heavy,"  as  Hippocrates  says.  His 
words  are,  "  Glukus  is  less  calculated  than  other  wine 
(oinodeos)  to  make  the  head  heavy,  and  it  takes  less 
hold  of  the  mind."  He  speaks  of  the  mild  Chian  and 
the  sweet  Bibline,  and  Plautus  of  the  toothless  Thanium 
and  Coan,  all  of  which  are  comprehended  under  oinos, 
wine. — Nott,  London  Ed.  p.  80. 

Professor  M.  Stuart,  on  pages  44  and  45  of  his  Letter  to 


44  THE   LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,    AND 

Dr.  Nottj  published  1848,  mentions  that  some  forty  years 
ago  Judge  Swift  told  him  that,  when  the  Hon.  O.  Els- 
worth,  the  first  Chief- Justice  of  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court, 
was  on  his  way  to  France  as  ambassador,  accompanied  by 
Judge  Swift,  of  Connecticut,  as  secretary,  they  were  ship- 
wrecked and  cast  upon  the  coast  of  Spain.  On  their  way 
to  Paris,  among  the  mountains  of  Spain,  a  wine  was 
strongly  urged  upon  them  which  would  not  intoxicate. 
Judge  Swift  first  made  the  experiment  on  himself.  He 
found  that  it  did  not  produce  any  tendency  of  the  kind. 
The  Chief-Justice  and  himself  used  to  drink  a  bottle  each 
with  their  dinner,  and  a  small  bottle  at  night.  It  was 
found  to  be  a  precious  balm  to  the  ambassador,  who  had 
become  fearfully  exhausted  by  continued  sea-sickness. 

Judge  Swift,  continues  the  Professor,  assured  me  that 
"  he  never,  before  or  since,  tasted  of  anything  that  would 
bear  comparison  with  the  delicacy  and  exquisite  flavor 
and  refreshing  effect  of  this  wine,  when  taken  with  due 
preparation  of  cooling  and  mixing  with  water.  He  ex- 
pressed his  confident  belief  that  a  gallon  of  it  drunk  at  a 
time,  if  a  man  could  swallow  down  so  much,  would  not 
affect  his  head  in  the  least  degree." 

Polybius  states  that  "among  the  Romans  the  women 
were  allowed  to  drink  a  wine  which  is  called  passum,  made 
from  raisins,  which  drink  very  much  resembled  Aegos- 
thenian  and  Cretan  gleukos  (sweet  wine),  and  which  men 
use  for  the  purpose  of  allaying  excessive  thirst." — Nott, 
London  Ed.  p.  80. 

Henderson,  in  his  History  of  Wi?ies,  p.  44:,  comment- 
ing on  the  boiled  wine  of  the  Roman  women  referred 
to  by  Yirgil  (Georg.  i.  293),  truly  says,  "  The  use  of  this 
inspissated  juice  became  general."  Rev.  W.  H.  Rule,  in 
his  Brief  Enquiry,  confesses  that  it  was  the  protropos  or 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  45 

prodromes  oinos  of  the  Greeks." — Nott,  London  Ed.,  Lees' 
Appendix,  p.  221. 

Smith's  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities  says :  "  That 
which  flowed  from  the  clusters,  in  consequence  of  their 
pressure  upon  each  other,  to  which  the  inhabitants  of 
Mytelene  gave  the  name  of  protropos" 

The  prohibition  of  intoxicating  wines  to  women  was 
enforced  by  the  severest  penalties.  "  Plato,  Aristotle, 
Plutarch,  and  others  have  noticed  the  hereditary  trans- 
mission of  intemperate  propensities,  and  the  legislation 
that  imposed  abstinence  upon  women  had  unquestiona- 
bly in  view  the  greater  vigor  of  the  offspring — the  '  mens 
sana  in  corpore  sano '  (healthy  minds  in  a  healthy  body)." 
— Bible  Commentary,  p.  72. 

"  Modern  medical  enquiries  have  made  clear  the  fact, 
surmised  by  some  ancient  philosophers,  of  the  power- 
ful influence  of  maternal  regimen  on  the  uterine  condi- 
tion and  future  health  of  children."  "  That  indulgence 
in  the  use  of  strong  drink  by  expectant  mothers  would 
be  injurious  to  their  offspring  was  known  to  the  learned 
and  wise  among  the  ancients." — Bible  Commentary,  p.  72. 

Matthew  Henry,  in  the  case  of  Samson,  remarks, 
"  "Women  with  child  ought  conscientiously  to  avoid  what- 
ever they  have  reason  to  think  will  be  in  any  way  preju- 
dicial to  the  health  or  good  condition  of  the  fruit  of  their 
body.  And  perhaps  Samson's  mother  was  to  refrain  from 
wine  and  strong  drink,  not  only  because  he  was  designed 
for  a  Nazarite,  but  because  he  was  designed  for  a  man 
of  strength,  which  his  mother's  temperance  would  contri- 
bute to." 

That  old  Roman  prohibitory  law,  which  forbade  intoxi- 
cating wine  whilst  it  allowed  the  pure  juice,  was  founded 
in  common  sense  and  benevolence.  It  is  to  be  regretted 


46  THE   LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,   AND 

that  they  were  not  as  wise  and  merciful  towards  them- 
selves as  they  were  towards  their  wives  and  the  health 
and  strength  of  their  offspring. 

Dr.  Laurie,  who  holds  that  "  it  is  the  nature  of  wine  to 
be  fermented,"  and  "  that  fermentation  is  essential  to  its 
becoming  wine,1'  still  admits  that  there  are  "traces  of 
unfermented  wine  in  classical  authors,"  and  that  it  "is 
known  in  history ;"  which  he  tlms  strangely  qualifies — 
known  in  history  "  only  as  one  of  the  unnatural  and  rare 
luxuries  of  the  most  corrupt  period  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire." Queer  logic  this,  that  unintoxicating  wine  should 
indicate  the  most  corrupt  period  of  the  Roman  Empire ! 
Human  nature  must  have  greatly  changed,  for  now  the 
course  of  history  is  rum,  rags,  ruin.  And  experience 
teaches  that  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  is  associated 
with  desecrated  Sabbaths,  loose  views  of  morality  and 
religion,  and  the  increase  of  pauperism,  crime,  and  taxa- 
tion. 

The  Rev.  W.  II.  Rule,  already  named,  says :  "  This 
very  grape-juice,  notwithstanding  its  purity,  was  chiefly 
known  in  antiquity  as  the  casual  drink  of  the  peasantry, 
or,  when  carefully  preserved,  as  the  choice  beverage  of 
epicures.  It  was  sweet  to  the  taste,  and  had  not  acquired 
the  asperity  consequent  on  the  abstraction  (conversion) 
of  saccharine  matter  by  fermentation." — Nott,  London 
Ed.,  Appendix  C,  p.  222. 

Smith,  in  his  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,  says :  "  The 
sweet,  unfermented  juice  of  the  grape  was  termed  gleukos 
by  the  Greeks  and  mustimi  by  the  Romans — the  latter 
word  being  properly  an  adjective  signifying  flew  or  fresh." 
"A  portion  of  the  must  was  used  at  once,  being  drunk 
fresh."  "  When  it  was  desired  to  preserve  a  quantity  in 
the  sweet  state,  an  amphora  was  taken  and  coated  with 


THE   WINES    OF   THE    AXCIENTS.  47 

pitch  within  and  without,  it  was  filled  with  mustum  lixi- 
vium, and  corked  so  as  to  be  perfectly  air-tight.  It  was 
then  immersed  in  a  tank  of  cold  fresh  water,  or  buried  in 
wet  sand,  and  allowed  to  remain  for  six  weeks  or  two 
months.  The  contents,  after  this  process,  was  found  to 
remain  unchanged  for  a  year,  and  hence  the  name,  aeigleu- 
kos — that  is,  '  semper  mustum,'  always  sweet." 

Chas.  Anthon,  LL.D.,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Greek  and 
Roman  Antiquities,  gives  the  same  receipt  and  definitions, 
and  fully  sustains  the  position  that  these  preparations  of 
the  unfermented  grape-juice  were  by  the  ancients  known 
as  wine. 

We  have  a  great  variety  of  ancient  receipts  for  making 
different  kinds  of  wine.  Some  of  them,  as  we  have  seen, 
were  not  fermented,  and  therefore  not  intoxicating.  Others 
were  intoxicating.  The  receipts  mention  the  different 
articles  out  of  which  wines  were  made,  such  as  millet, 
dates,  lotus-tree,  figs,  beans,  pears,  pomegranates,  myrtle, 
hellebore,  etc.  Foreign  ingredients  were  formerly  added 
to  wines  to  make  them  intoxicating.  These  wines  were  not 
approved,  and  towards  these  not  temperance  but  total 
abstinence  was  enjoined.  Various  drugs  are  specified  by 
which  the  juice  was  made  more  potent,  as  wormwood, 
hellebore.  "We  learn  from  Homer  that  Helen  prepared 
for  Telemachus  a  cup  in  which  a  powerful  drug  was  in- 
fused. Also,  that  Circe  made  use  of  "  direful  drugs."  Such 
preparations  were  common  in  the  East.  The  Orientals  of 
the  present  day  have  a  knowledge  of  drugs  which  they 
combine  with  beverages  for  profligate  purposes.  "We  read 
in  Isaiah  v.  22  of  "  men  of  strength  to  mingle  strong 
drink."  The  juice  of  the  grape  was  "  mixed  with  pun- 
gent and  heady  drugs  in  order  to  gratify  a  base  and  insati- 
able appetite."  Particularly,  in  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah 


48 


AXD 


iii.  15  we  read,  "  Ileliath  made  me  drunk  with  wormwood." 
J.  G.  Koht,  in  liis  Travels  in  Austria,  mentions  a  wine  of 
wormwood.  To  make  it,  the  juice  is  boiled  with  certain 
herbs.  This  wine  decoction  is  as  renowned  in  Hungary 
as  the  Tokay  Essence. — Bible  Commentary,  p  203. 

The  divine  anger  is  symbolized  by  the  cup  which  is  "  full 
of  mixture ;"  Ps.  Ixxv.  8 ;  "  cup  of  his  fury,"  Isaiah  li. 
17;  "wine-cup  of  his  fury,"  Jer.  xxv.  15. 

We  cannot  imagine  that  Pliny,  Columella,  Yarro,  Cato, 
and  others  were  either  cooks  or  writers  of  cook-books, 
but  were  intelligent  gentlemen  moving  in  the  best  circles 
of  society.  So  when  they,  with  minute  care,  give  the 
receipts  for  making  sweet  wine,  which  will  remain  so  dur- 
ing the  year,  and  the  processes  were  such  as  to  prevent 
fermentation,  we  are  persuaded  that  these  were  esteemed 
in  their  day.  That  they  were  so  natural  and  so  simple  as 
to  like  these  sweet,  harmless  beverages  is  rather  in  their 
favor,  and  not  to  be  set  down  against  them.  That  there 
were  men  In  their  day,  as  there  are  many  in  ours,  who 
loved  and  used  intoxicating  drinks,  is  a  fact  which  marked 
their  degradation. 

WIXE    WITH    WATER. 

There  is  abundance  of  evidence  that  the  ancients  mixed 
their  wines  with  water ;  not  because  they  were  so  strong, 
with  alcohol,  as  to  require  dilution,  but  because,  being  rich 
syrups,  they  needed  water  to  prepare  them  for  drinking. 
The  quantity  of  water  was  regulated  by  the  richness  of 
the  wine  and  the  time  of  year. 

"  Those  ancient  authors  who  treat  upon  domestic  man- 
ners abound  with  allusions  to  this  usage.  Hot  water, 
tepid  water,  or  cold  water  was  used  for  the  dilution  of 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  49 

wine  according  to  the  season."  "Hesiod  prescribed, 
during  the  summer  months,  three  parts  of  water  to  one  of 
wine."  "  JSTicochares  considers  two  parts  of  wine  to  five 
of  water  as  the  proper  proportion."  "  According  to 
Homer,  Pramnian  and  Meronian  wines  required  twenty 
parts  of  water  to  one  of  wine.  Hippocrates  considered 
twenty  parts  of  water  to  one  of  the  Thracian  wine  to  be 
the  proper  beverage."  "  Theophrastus  says  the  wine  at 
Thasos  is  wonderfully  delicious."  Athenseus  states  that 
the  Taeniotic  has  such  a  degree  of  richness  or  fatness  that 
when  mixed  with  water  it  seemed  gradually  to  be  diluted, 
much  in  the  same  way  as  Attic  honey  well  mixed. — Bible 
Commentary r,  p.  17. 

Captain  Treat  says,  "  The  unfermented  wine  is  esteemed 
the  most  in  the  south  of  Italy,  and  wine  is  drunk  mixed 
with  water." — Lees'  Works.  Also  in  Spain  and  Syria. 

"  In  Italy  the  habit  (mixing  wine  with  water)  was  so 
universal  that  there  was  an  establishment  at  Rome  for  the 
public  use.  It  was  called  THERMOPOLIUM,  and,  from  the 
accounts  left  of  it,  was  upon  a  large  scale.  The  remains 
of  several  have  been  discovered  among  the  ruins  of  Pom- 
peii. Cold,  warm,  and  tepid  water  was  procurable  at  these 
establishments,  as  well  as  wine,  and  the  inhabitants  resorted 
there  for  the  purpose  of  drinking,  and  also  sent  their  ser- 
vants for  hot  water." — Nott,  London  Ed.  p.  83. 

"  The  annexed  engraving  of  the  THEKMOPOLIUM  is  copied 
from  the  scarce  work  of  Andreas  Baccius  (De  Nat.  Vin- 
orum  Hist.,  Eome,  1597,  lib.  iv.  p.  178).  The  plan  was 
obtained  by  himself,  assisted  by  two  antiquaries,  from  the 
ruins  of  the  Diocletian  Baths  (Rome).  Nothing  can  more 
clearly  exhibit  the  contrast  between  the  ancient  wines  and 
those  of  modern  Europe  than  the  widely  different  modo 
of  treating  them.  The  hot  water  was  often  necessary, 


50 


THE   LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,   AND 


says  Sir  Edward  Barry,  to  dissolve  their  more  inspissated 
and  old  wines." — Kitto,  ii.  p.  956. 


"  Nor  was  it  peculiar  to  pagans  to  mingle  water  with 
wine  for  beverage  and  at  feasts ;  nor  to  profane  writers 
to  record  the  fact.  It  is  written  of  Wisdom,  she  mingled 
her  wine — Prov.  ix.  2 — and  so  written  by  an  inspired 
penman." — Nott,  London  Ed.  p.  84. 

This  mixed  wine  must  be  different  from  that  named  in 
Ps.  Ixxv,  8.  "  full  of  mixture,"  which  we  have  seen  is  the 
symbol  of  the  divine  vengeance,  the  cup  prepared  for  his 
enemies.  But  in  Prov.  ix.  2,  it  is  a  blessing  to  which 
friends  are  invited.  If  in  this  passage  the  mixture  is  of 
aromatic  spices,  in  addition  to  the  water  necessary  to  di- 
lute the  syrup,  it  was  not  to  fire  the  blood  with  alcohol, 
but  to  gratify  the  taste  with  delicate  flavors. 


THE   WINES    OF   THE   ANCIENTS.  51 

The  Passover  was  celebrated  with  wine  mixed  with 
water.  According  to  Lightfoot,  each  person — man,  wo- 
man, and  child — drank  four  cups.  Christ  and  his  disciples 
having  celebrated  the  Passover,  he  took  of  the  bread  and 
the  wine  that  remained,  and  instituted  the  Lord's  Supper. 
The  wine  was,  as  we  believe,  the  rich  syrup  diluted  with 
water.  This  kind  of  wine  met  all  the  requirements  of 
the  law  concerning  leaven — the  true  rendering  of  Mat- 
sah,  according  to  Dr.  D.  F.  Lees,  being  unfermented 
things.  The  conclusion  to  which  these  varied  sources  of 
proof  bring  us  may  thus  be  stated : 

1.  That  unfermented  beverages  existed,  and  were  a  com- 
mon drink  among  the  ancients. 

2.  That  to  preserve  their  very  sweet  juices,  in  their  hot 
climate,  they  resorted  to  boiling  and  other  methods  which 
destroyed  the  power  and  activity  of  the  gluten,  or  effectu- 
ally separated  it  from  the  juice  of  the  grape. 

3.  That  these  were  called  wines,  were  used,  and  were 
highly  esteemed. 

Prof.  M.  Stuart  says,  "  Facts  show  that  the  ancients  not 
only  preserved  their  wine  unfermented,  but  regarded  it 
as  of  a  higher  flavor  and  finer  quality  than  fermented 
wine." — Letter  to  Dr.  Nott. 

That  they  also  had  drinks  that  would  intoxicate  can- 
not be  denied.  All  that  we  have  aimed  to  show  is  that 
intoxicating  wines  were  not  the  only  wines  in  use. 

With  the  teachings  of  chemical  science,  and  with  the 
knowledge  of  the  tastes  and  usages  of  the  ancients,  we 
are  the  better  prepared  to  examine  arid  understand  the 
Bible,  which  was  written  when  those  tastes  and  usages 
were  in  actual  operation.  Common  honesty  demands 


52  THE   LAWS   OF   FERMENTATION,   A3CD 

that  we  interpret  the  Scriptures  with  the  eye,  the  taste, 
and  the  usages  of  the  ancients,  and  not  with  the  eye,  the 
taste,  and  the  usages  of  the  moderns.  We  should  interpret 
each  text  so  as  to  be  in  harmony  not  only  with  the  drift 
and  scope  of  the  whole  teachings  of  the  Bible,  but  also  with 
the  well-ascertained  and  established  laws  of  nature.  It 
certainly  is  as  important  to  harmonize  the  interpretations 
of  the  Bible  with  the  teachings  of  chemistry  and  the  laws 
of  our  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  nature,  violated  by 
alcoholic  drinks,  as  it  is  to  harmonize  the  interpretations 
of  the  same  word  of  God  with  the  ascertained  facts  of 
geology  and  astronomy.  To  these  latter  topics,  Biblical 
scholars  have  given  most  praiseworthy  attention.  Let  the 
same  anxious  interest  animate  our  endeavors  to  harmonize 
the  Bible  teachings  with  clearly  ascertained  facts  and  with 
the  truth  which  the  temperance  reformation  has  made 
indisputable. 

The  will  of  God  registered  in  the  laws  of  nature,  and  the 
will  of  God  registered  in  the  inspired  revelation,  cannot 
possibly  contradict  each  other.  They  must  harmonize. 
"Whatever  difficulties  may  now  stand  in  the  way  of  this 
harmony,  we  know  that,  as  science  becomes  more  intelli- 
gently informed  of  the  laws  of  nature,  and  as  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  Bible  becomes  more  thorough  and  emanci- 
pated, the  testimony  of  God's  works  and  word  will  per- 
fectly harmonize. 

"  The  books  of  nature  and  revelation  were  written  by 
the  same  unerring  hand.  The  former  is  more  full  and 
explicit  in  relation  to  the  physical,  the  latter  in  relation  to 
the  moral,  laws  of  our  nature ;  still,  however,  where  both 
touch  on  the  same  subject,  they  will  ever  be  found,  when 
rightly  interpreted,  to  be  in  harmony."  "Nature  and 
revelation  are  as  little  at  variance  on  the  wine  question 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    AXCIENTS.  53 

as  on  other  questions,  and  when  rightly  consulted  it  will 
be  found  to  be  so.  It  is  not  in  the  text,  but  in  the  inter- 
pretation, that  men  have  felt  straitened  in  their  conscien- 
ces ;  and  though  this  feeling  should  continue,  unless  the 
providence  of  God  changes,  it  will  not  alter  the  facts  of 
the  case."— Nott,  London  Ed.  p.  T5. 

THE    SCRIPTURES. 

It  should  be  constantly  borne  in  mind  that  the  Author- 
ized Yersion  was  translated  when  the  drinking  usages 
were  well-nigh  universal.  The  attention  of  Christians 
and  of  thoughtful  men  had  not  been  called  to  the  perni- 
cious influence  of  alcoholic  drinks.  Though  drunkenness 
existed,  still  no  plans  were  then  devised  either  for  its 
prevention  or  its  cure.  It  was  regarded  as  an  evil  inci- 
dent to  hospitality  and  social  cheer. 

The  translators,  with  the  most  honest  purpose,  faith- 
fully, according  to  their  ability,  rendered  into  English  the 
original  Scriptures,  but  were  nevertheless  unintentional- 
ly and  unconsciously  influenced  by  the  philosophy  and 
usages  of  their  day.  As  the  river  carries  in  its  waters 
that  which  with  absolute  certainty  tells  of  the  soil  through 
which  it  has  flowed,  so  the  translators  must  carry  into  the 
renderings  which  they  give  evidences  of  the  prevailing 
usages  and  modes  of  thought  of  their  day.  Thus  inno- 
cently, though  naturally,  shades  of  meaning  have  been 
given  to  particular  passages.  These  have  come  down  to 
us  with  feelings  of  sacred  reverence.  To  give  a  new  ren- 
dering seems  to  be  almost  sacrilege.  "With  this  feeling 
every  department  of  science  has  to  contend  when  it  would 
throw  new  light  upon  the  sacred  page.  Astronomy  and 
geology  have  met  this  difficulty,  and  it  is  not  strange  that 


54  THE   LAWS   OP   FERMENTATION,   AND 

the  cause  of  temperance  should  have  to  contend  with  this 
feeling,  notwithstanding  the  convictions  of  temperance 
men  are  the  result  of  experience  and  diligent,  patient 
investigation. 

We  would  not  distrust,  much  less  weaken,  confidence 
in  the  Word  of  God.  "We  would,  however,  remind  the 
reader  that  ONLY  THE  ORIGINAL  TEXT  is  INSPIRED  ;  that  no 
translation,  much  less  no  mere  human  interpretation,  is 
ultimate  authority. 

GENERIC   WORDS. 

Professor  M.  Stuart,  in  his  Letter  to  Rev.  Dr.  Nott, 
February  1,  1848,  says,  page  11 :  "  There  are  in  the  Scrip- 
tures (Hebrew)  but  two  generic  words  to  designate  such 
drinks  as  may  be  of  an  intoxicating  nature  when  fer- 
mented and  which  are  not  so  before  fermentation.  In 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures  the  word  yayin,  in  its  broadest 
meaning,  designates  grape-juice,  or  the  liquid  which  the 
fruit  of  the  vine  yields.  This  may  be  new  or  old,  sweet 
or  sour,  fermented  or  unfermented,  intoxicating  or  unin- 
toxicating.  The  simple  idea  of  grape-juice  or  vine-liquor 
is  the  basis  and  essence  of  the  word,  in  whatever  connec- 
tion it  may  stand.  The  specific  sense  which  we  must 
often  assign  to  the  word  arises  not  from  the  word  itself, 
but  from  the  connection  in  which  it  stands." 

He  justifies  this  statement  by  various  examples  which 
illustrate  the  comprehensive  character  of  the  word. 

In  the  London  edition  (1863)  of  President  E.  Pott's 
Lectures,  with  an  introduction  by  Tayler  Lewis,  LL.D., 
Professor  of  Greek  in  Union  College,  and  several  appen- 
dices by  F.  E.  Lees,  he  says :  "  Yayin  is  a  generic  term, 
and,  when  not  restricted  in  its  meaning  by  some  word  or 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  55 

circumstance,  comprehends  vinous  beverage  of  every  sort, 
however  produced.  It  is,  however,  as  we  have  seen,  often 
restricted  to  the  fruit  of  the  vine  in  its  natural  and  unin- 
toxicating  state  "  (p.  68). 

Kitto's  Cyclopaedia,  article  "Wine  :  "  Yayin  in  Bible  use 
is  a  very  general  term,  including  every  species  of  wine 
made  from  grapes  (vinos  ampelinos),  though  in  later  ages 
it  became  extended  in  its  application  to  wine  made  from 
other  substances." 

Rev.  Dr.  Murphy,  Professor  of  Hebrew  at  Belfast, 
Ireland,  says :  "  Yayin  denotes  all  stages  of  the  juice  of 
the  grape." 

"  Yayin  (sometimes  written  yin,  yain,  or  ain)  stands  for 
the  expressed  juice  of  the  grape — the  context  sometimes 
indicating  whether  the  juice  had  undergone  or  not  the 
process  of  fermentation.  It  is  mentioned  one  hundred 
and  forty-one  times." — Bible  Commentary,  Appendix  B, 
p.  412. 

SHAKAE,  "  the  second,  is  of  the  like  tenor,"  says 
Professor  Stuart,  page  14,  but  applies  wholly  to  a  differ- 
ent liquor.  The  Hebrew  name  is  shakar,  which  is  usu- 
ally translated  strong  drink  in  the  Old  Testament  and 
in  the  New.  The  mere  English  reader,  of  course,  inva- 
riably gets  from  this  translation  a  wrong  idea  of  the  real 
meaning  of  the  original  Hebrew.  He  attaches  to  it  the 
idea  which  the  English  phrase  now  conveys  among  us, 
viz.,  that  of  a  strong,  intoxicating  drink,  like  our  distilled 
liquors.  As  to  distillation,  by  which  alcoholic  liquors 
are  now  principally  obtained,  it  was  utterly  unknown  to 
the  Hebrews,  and,  indeed  to  all  the  world  in  ancient 
times."  "  The  true  original  idea  of  shaJcar  is  a  liquor 
obtained  from  dates  or  other  fruits  (grapes  excepted),  or 
barley,  millet,*  etc.,  which  were  dried,  or  scorched,  and  a 


56  THE   LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,    AND 

decoction  of  them  was  mixed  with  honey,  aromatics, 
etc." 

On  page  15  he  adds :  "  Both  words  are  generic.  The 
first  means  vinous  liquor  of  any  and  every  kind;  the 
second  means  a  corresponding  liquor  from  dates  and  other 
fruits,  or  from  several  grains.  Both  of  the  liquors  have 
in  them  the  saccharine  principle  ;  and  therefore  they  may 
become  alcoholic.  But  both  may  be  kept  and  used  in 
an  unfermented  state ;  when,  of  course,  no  quantity  that 
a  man  could  drink  of  them  would  intoxicate  him  in  any 
perceptible  degree."  "The  two  words  which  I  have 
thus  endeavored  to  define  are  the  only  two  in  the  Old 
Testament  which  are  generic,  and  which  have  reference  to 
the  subject  now  in  question." 

"SHAKAR  (sometimes  written  shechar,  shekar)  signi- 
fies '  sweet  drink '  expressed  from  fruits  other  than  the 
grape,  and  drunk  in  an  unfermented  or  fermented  state. 
It  occurs  in  the  O.  T.  twenty-three  times." — Bible  Com- 
mentary, p.  418.  Kitto's  Cyclopcedia  says  :  "  Shdkar  is  a 
generic  term,  including  palin-wine  and  other  saccharine 
beverages,  except  those  prepared  from  the  vine."  It  is 
in  this  article  defined  " sweet  drink" 

Dr.  F.  R.  Lees,  page  xxxii.  of  his  Preliminary  Disserta- 
tion to  the  Bible  Commentary,  says  shalcar,  "  saccharine 
drink,"  is  related  to  the  word  for  sugar  in  all  the  Indo- 
Germanic  and  Semitic  languages,  and  is  still  applied 
throughout  the  East,  from  India  to  Abyssinia,  to  the  palm 
sap,  the  shaggery  made  from  it,  to  the  date  juice  and  sy- 
rup, as  well  as  to  sugar  and  to  the  fermented  palm-wine. 
It  has  by  usage  grown  into  a  generic  term  for  '  drinks,' 
including  fresh  juices  and  inebriating  liquors  other  than 
those  coming  from  the  grape.  See  under  the  heading, 
"  Other  Hebrew  Words  "  for  further  illustrations,  page  58. 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    AXCTENTS.  57 

TIROSH,  in  Kitto's  Cyclopaedia,  is  defined  "vintage 
fruit."  In  Bible  Commentary,  p.  414  :  "  Tirosh  is  a  col- 
lective name  for  the  natural  produce  of  the  vine." 
Again,  Bible  Commentary,  p.  x'xiv. :  "  Tirosh  is  not  wine 
at  all,  but  the  fruit  of  the  vineyard  in  its  natural  condi- 
tion." A  learned  Biblical  scholar,  in  a  volume  on  the 
wine  question,  published  in  London,  1841,  holds  that 
tirosh  is  not  wine,  but  fruit.  This  doubtless  may  be  its 
meaning  in  some  passages,  but  in  others  it  can  only  mean 
wine,  as,  for  example,  Prov.  iii.  10 :  "  Thy  presses  shall 
burst  out  with  new  wine "  (tirosh) ;  Isa.  Ixii.  8 :  "  The 
sons  of  the  stranger  shall  not  drink  thy  new  wine" 
(tirosh). 

"On  the  whole,  it  seems  to  me  quite. clear,"  says  Prof. 
Stuart,  p.  28,  "  that  tirosh  is  a  species  of  wine,  and  not 
a  genus,  like  yayin,  which  means  grape-juice  in  any  form, 
or  of  any  quality,  and  in  any  state,  and  usually  is  made 
definite  only  by  the  context." 

"  Tirosh  is  connected  with  corn  and  the  fruit  of  the 
olive  and  the  orchard  nineteen  times ;  with  corn  alone, 
eleven  times ;  with  the  vine,  three  times ;  and  is  other- 
wise named  five  times :  in  all,  thirty-eight  times."  "  It 
is  translated  in  the  Authorized  Version  twenty-six  times 
by  wine,  eleven  times  by  new  wine  (Neh,  x.  39,  xiii. 
5,  12 ;  Prov.  iii.  10 ;  Isa.  xxiv.  7,  Ixv.  8 ;  Hos.  iv.  14, 
ix.  2 ;  Joel  i.  10 ;  Hag.  i.  11 ;  Zach.  ix.  17),  and  once 
(Micah  vi.  15)  by  '  sweet  wine,'  where  the  margin  has  new 
wine." — BibU  Commentary,  p.  415. 

So  uniform  is  the  good  use  of  this  word  that  there  is 
bat  one  doubtful  exception  (Hosea  iv.  11):  "Whore- 
dom and  wine  (yayin),  and  new  wine  (tirosh),  take  away 
the  heart."  Here  are  three  different  things,  each  of  which 
is  charged  with  taking  away  the  heart.  As  whoredom  is 


68  THE   LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,    AND 

not  the  same  as  yayin,  so  yayin  is  not  the  same  as  tirosh. 
If  physical  intoxication  is  not  a  necessary  attribute  of  the 
first,  then  why  is  it  of  the  third,  especially  when  the  sec- 
ond is  adequate  for  intoxication?  If  yayin  and  tirosh 
each  means  intoxicating  wine,  then  why  use  both  ?  It 
would  then  read,  whoredom  and  yayin  (intoxicating  wine) 
and  tirosh  (intoxicating  wine)  take  away  the  heart,  which 
is  tautological.  The  three  terms  are  symbolical. 

Whoredom  is  a  common  designation  of  idolatry,  which 
the  context  particularly  names.  This  steals  the  heart 
from  God  as  really  as  does  literal  whoredom. 

Yayin  may  represent  drunkenness  or  debased  sensu- 
ality. This  certainly  takes  away  the  heart. 

Tirosh  may  represent  luxury,  and,  in  this  application, 
dishonesty,  as  tirosh  formed  a  portion  of  the  tithes, 
rapacity  in  exaction,  and  perversion  in  their  use,  is  fitly 
charged  with  taking  away  the  heart. 

Certain  interpreters  imagine  that  only  alcoholic  drinks 
take  away  the  heart ;  but  we  know  from  the  Bible  that 
pride,  ambition,  worldly  pleasures,  fulness  of  bread, 
Ezek.  xvi.  49,  and  other  things,  take  away  the  heart. 

G.  II.  Shanks,  in  his  review  of  Dr.  Laurie,  says :  "  In 
vine-growing  lands,  grapes  are  to  owners  what  wheat, 
corn,  flax,  etc.,  are  to  agriculturists,  or  what  bales  of  cot- 
ton or  bank-notes  are  to  merchants.  Do  these  never  take 
away  the  heart  of  the  possessor  from  God  ?" 

OTHER    HEBREW    WORDS. 

We  extract  from  Dr.  F.  E.  Lees'  Appendix  B  of  Bibli- 
cal Commentary  the  following,  pp.  415-418 : 

IVHEMER  is  a  word  descriptive  of  the  foaming  appear 
ance  of  the  juice  of  the  grape  newly  expressed,  or  when 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  59 

undergoing  fermentation.  It  occurs  but  nine  times  in  all, 
including  once  a  verb,  and  six  times  in  its  Clialdee  form 
of  Jchamar  or  Jchamrah.  Deut.  xxxii.  14 ;  Ezra  vi.  9, 
vii.  22;  Ps.  Ixxv.  8;  Isa.  xxvii.  2;  Dan.  v.  1,2, 
4,  23. 

Liebig  says  :  "  Vegetable  juice  in  general  becomes  tur- 
bid when  in  contact  with  the  air  BEFORE  FERMENTATION 
COMMENCES." — Chemistry  of  Agriculture,  3d  edition. 
"Thus,  it  appears,  foam  or  turbidness  (what  the  Hebrews 
called  kheraer,  and  applied  to  the  foaming  blood  of  the 
grape)  is  no  proof  of  alcohol  being  present." — Bible 
Commentary,  Prelim,  xvi.  note. 

AHSIS  (sometimes  written  ausis,  asie,  osis)  is  specially 
applied  to  the  juice  of  newly-trodden  grapes  or  other 
fruit.  It  occurs  five  times.  Cant.  viii.  2;  Isa.  xlix. 
26 ;  Joel  i.  5,  iii.  18,  Amos  ix.  13. 

SOVEH  (sometimes  written  sole,  sobJie)  denotes  a 
luscious  and  probably  boiled  wine  (Latin,  sapa).  It  occurs 
three  times.  Isa.  i.  22 ;  Hosea  iv.  18 ;  Nahum  i.  14. 

"  It  is  chiefly  interesting  as  affording  a  link  of  connec- 
tion between  classical  wines  and  those  of  Judea,  through 
an  obviously  common  name,  being  identical  with  the 
Greek  hepsema,  the  Latin  sapa,  and  the  modern  Italian 
and  French  sale — boiled  grape-juice.  The  inspissated 
wines,  called  defrutum  and  syrc&um,  were,  according  to 
Pliny  (xiv.  9),  a  species  of  it.  The  last  name  singularly 
suggests  the  instrument  in  which  it  was  prepared — the 
syr,  or  caldron." — Bible  Commentary,  Prelim,  xxiii. 

MESEK  (sometimes  written  mesech),  literally,  a  mix- 
ture, is  used  with  its  related  forms,  mezeg  and  mimsaJc,  to 
denote  some  liquid  compounded  of  various  ingredients. 
These  words  occur  as  nouns  four  times,  and  in  a  verbal 
shape  five  times.  Ps.  Ixxv.  8  ;  Prov.  xxiii.  30 ;  Cant. 


60  THE   LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,   AND 

vii.  2 ;  Isa.  Ixv.  11.  The  verbal  forms  occur  Prov.  ix.  2, 
5 ;  also,  in  Fs.  cii.  9 ;  Isa.  xix.  14. 

ASHISHAH  (sometimes  written  eshishaft)  signifies  some 
kind  of  fruit-cake,  probably  cake  of  pressed  grapes  or 
raisins.  It  occurs  four  times,  and  in  each  case  is  associ- 
ated by  the  Authorized  Version  with  some  kind  of  drink. 
2  Sam.  vi.  19 ;  1  Chron.  xvi.  3  ;  Cant.  ii.  5 ;  Hosea  iii.  1. 

SHEMARIM  is  derived  from  shamar,  to  preserve,  and 
has  the  general  signification  of  things  preserved.  It  occurs 
five  times.  In  Exodus  xii.  42,  the  same  word,  differ- 
ently pointed,  is  twice  translated  as  signifying  to  le  kept 
(observed).  Ps.  Ixxv.  8,  dregs ;  Isa.  xxv.  6,  fat  things ; 
Jer.  xlviii.  11,  lees ;  Zeph.  i.  12,  lees. 

MAMTAQQIM  is  derived  from  mahthaq,  to  suck,  and  de- 
notes sweetness.  It  is  applied  to  the  mouth  (Cant.  v.  16) 
as  full  of  sweet  things.  In  !Neh.  viii.  10,  "drink  the 
sweet "  mamtaqqini,  sweetness,  sweet  drinks. 

SHAKAR  (sometimes  written  sheehar,  sheJcar)  signifies 
sweet  drink  expressed  from  fruits  other  than  the  grape, 
and  drunk  in  an  unfermented  or  fermented  state.  It  oc- 
curs in  the  Old  Testament  twenty-three  times.  Lev. 
x.  9 ;  Kuinb.  vi.  3  (twice  wine  and  vinegar),  xxviii.  7 ; 
Deut.  xiv.  26,  xxix.  6 ;  Judges  xiii.  4,  7,  14 ;  1  Sam.  i. 
15  ;  Ps.  Ixix.  12 ;  Prov.  xx.  1,  xxxi.  4,  6 ;  Isa.  v.  11,  22, 
xxiv.  9,  xxviii.  7,  xxix.  9,  Ivi.  12;  Micah  ii.  11.  Shakar 
is  uniformly  translated  strong  drink  in  the  Authorized 
Version,  except  in  2sTumb.  xxviii.  7  (strong  wine),  and  in 
Ps.  Ixix.  12,  where,  instead  of  drinkers  of  sJiakar,  the 
Authorized  Version  reads  drunkards.  (See  "  Generic 
Words.") 

GREEK,    LATIX,    AND    ENGLISH    GENERIC    WORDS. 

OINOS. — .Biblical  scholars  are  agreed  that  in  the  Septua- 


THE    WINES    OF   TIIE    ANCIENTS.  01 

gint  or  Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  and  in 
the  New  Testament,  the  word  oinos  corresponds  to  the 
Hebrew  word  yayin.  Stuart  says :  "  In  the  New  Tes- 
tament we  have  oinos,  which  corresponds  exactly  to  the 
Hebrew  yayin." 

As  both  yayin  and  oinos  are  generic  words,  they  desig- 
nate the  juice  of  the  grape  in  all  its  stages. 

In  the  Latin  we  have  the  word  vinum,  which  the  lexi- 
con gives  as  equivalent  to  oinos  of  the  Greek,  and  is  ren- 
dered by  the  English  word  wine,  both  being  generic. 
Here,  then,  are  four  generic  words,  yayin,  oinos,  -vinum, 
and  wine,  all  expressing  the  same  generic  idea,  as  includ- 
ing all  sorts  and  kinds  of  the  juice  of  the  grape.  Wine 
is  generic,  just  as  are  the  words  groceries,  hardware, 
merchandise,  fruit,  grain,  and  other  words. 

Dr.  Frederick  E.  Lees,  of  England,  the  author  of  sev- 
eral learned  articles  in  Kitttfs  Cyclopaedia,  in  which  he 
shows  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  ancient  lan- 
guages, says:  "In  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  Greek,  Syriac, 
Arabic,  Latin,  and  English,  the  words  for  wine  in  all 
these  languages  are  originally,  and  always,  and  inclu- 
sively, applied  to  the  blood  of  the  grape  in  its  primitive 
and  natural  condition,  as  well,  subsequently,  as  to  that 
juice  both  boiled  and  fermented." 

Dr.  Laurie,  on  the  contrary,  says  :  "  This  word  denotes 
intoxicating  wine  in  some  places  of  Scripture ;  therefore, 
it  denotes  the  same  in  all  places  of  Scripture."  This 
not  only  begs  the  whole  question,  but  is  strange,  very 
strange  logic.  "We  find  the  word  which  denotes  the  spirit 
often  rendered  wind  or  breath ;  shall  we,  therefore,  con- 
clude it  always  means  wind  or  breath,  and,  with  the  Sad- 
ducees,  infer  that  there  is  neither  angel  nor  spirit,  and 
that  there  can  be  no  resurrection  ?  So,  also,  because  the 


62  THE   LAWS    OP   FERMENTATION,    AND 

word  translated  heaven  often  means  the  atmosphere,  shall 
we  conclude  that  it  always  means  atmosphere,  and  that 
there  is  no  such  place  as  a  heaven  where  the  redeemed 
will  be  gathered  and  where  is  the  throne  of  God  ? 

But  the  misery  and  delusion  are  that  most  readers  of 
the  Bible,  knowing  of  no  other  than  the  present  wines 
of  commerce,  which  are  intoxicating,  leap  to  the  conclu- 
sion, wine  is  wine  all  the  world  over — as  the  wine  of  our 
day  is  inebriating,  therefore  the  wine  mentioned  in  the 
Bible  was  intoxicating,  and  there  was  none  other. 

There  is  a  perverse  tendency  in  the  human  mind  to 
limit  a  generic  word  to  a  particular  species. 

John  Stuart  Mill,  in  his  System  of  Logic,  says :  "  A 
generic  term  is  always  liable  to  become  limited  to  a  single 
species  if  people  have  occasion  to  think  and  speak  of  that 
species  oftener  than  of  anything  else  contained  in  the  genus. 
The  tide  of  custom  first  drifts  the  word  on  the  shore  of  a 
particular  meaning,  then  retires  and  leaves  it  there." 

The  truth  of  this  is  seen  every  day  in  the  way  in  which 
the  readers  of  the  Bible  limit  the  generic  word  wine  to  one 
of  the  species  under  it,  and  that  an  intoxicating  wine. 

CLASSIFICATION   OF   TEXTS. 

The  careful  reader  of  the  Bible  will  have  noticed  that 
in  a  number  of  cases  wine  is  simply  mentioned,  without 
anything  in  the  context  to  determine  its  character.  He 
will  have  noticed  another  class,  which  unmistakably  de- 
notes the  bad  character  of  the  beverage.  He  will  also 
have  noticed  a  third  class,  whose  character  is  as  clearly 
designated  as  good. 

It  would  extend  this  discussion  too  much  to  trace  out 
all  the  different  ways  in  which  the  generic  word  wine  is 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  C3 

used.     It  will  suffice  to  direct  attention  to  the  two  classes 
which  designate  their  character. 


BAD    WINE. 

One  class  of  texts  refers  to  wine : 

1.  As  the  cause  of  intoxication.     This  is  not  disputed. 

2.  As  the  cause  of  violence  and  woe.     Prov.  iv.  17 : 
"  They  drink  the  yayin,  wine,  of  violence."     Prov.  xxiii. 
29,  30:     "Who  hath  woe?     Who  hath  sorrows?     Who 
hath   contentions?     Who   hath  babbling?      Who   hath 
wounds  without  cause  ?    Who  hath  redness  of  eyes  ?    They 
that  tarry  long  at  the  yayin^  wine ;  they  that  go  to  seek 
mixed  wine." 

3.  As  the  cause  of  self-security  and  irreligion.     Isa. 
Ivi.  12 :    "  Come  ye,  say  they,  I  will  fetch  yayin,  wine, 
and  we  will  fill  ourselves  with  strong  drink ;  and  to-mor- 
row shall  be  as  this  day,  and  much  more  abundant."    Hab. 
ii.  5  :  "  Yea  also,  because  he  trausgresseth  by  yayin,  wine,  he 
is  a  proud  man,  neither  keepeth  at  home,  who  enlargeth 
his  desire  as  hell,  and  is  as  death,  and  cannot  be  satisfied." 
Isa.  xxviii.  7 :  "  They  also  have  erred  through  yayin,  wine, 
and  through  strong  drink  are  out  of  the  wTay  ;  the  priest 
and  the  prophet  have  erred  through  strong  drink  ;  they 
err  in  vision,  they  stumble  in  judgment." 

4.  As  poisonous  and  destructive.     Prov.  xxiii.   31 : 
"  Look  not  thou  upon  the  yayin,  wine,  when  it  is  red, 
when  it  giveth  his  color  in  the  cup,  when  it  moveth  itself 
aright.     At  the  last  it  biteth  like  a  serpent,  and  stingeth 
like  an  adder."     Chemists  find  in  this  passage  an  admira- 
ble description  of  the  process  of  vinous  fermentation  by 
which  alcohol  is  produced. 

It  is  worthy  of  particular  notice  that  it  is  this  kind  of 


64  THE   LAWS    OP   FERMEOTATIOX,    AND 

wine  that  men  are  exhorted  and  warned  not  even  to  look 
upon,  much  less  to  drink ;  and  that  because  its  effects 
will  be  like  the  poisonous,  deadly  bite  of  a  serpent  and 
the  equally  fatal  sting  of  the  adder.  Deut.  xxxii.  33 : 
u  Their  yayin,  wine,  is  the  poison  of  dragons,  and  the  cruel 
venom  of  asps." 

The  Hebrew  word  khamah,  here  rendered  poison,  oc- 
curs eight  times,  and  is  six  times  translated  poison,  as  in 
Deut.  xxxii.  24 :  "  The  poison  of  serpents ;"  xxxii.  23  : 
"  Their  wine  is  the  poison  of  dragons ;"  Ps.  Iviii.  4 : 
"  Their  poison  is  like  the  poison  of  a  serpent ;"  cxl.  3  : 
"  Adders'  poison  is  under  their  lips  ;"  Job  vi.  4  :  "  The 
poison  whereof  drinketh  up  my  spirit." 

Hosea  vii.  5 :  "  Made  him  sick  with  bottles  of  wine " 
(khamath),  poison  ;  margin,  "  heat  through  wine."  Hab.  ii. 
15  :  "  Woe  unto  him  that  giveth  his  neighbor  drink ;  that 
putteth  thy  bottle  to  him."  The  word  bottle  is  rendered 
khamah,  which  means  poison,  and  is  so  rendered  gene- 
erally ;  by  a  figure,  the  bottle  is  put  for  the  poison  it  con- 
tained. 

Parkhurst  defines  this  word  "  an  inflammatory  poison" 
and  refers  to  the  rabbins,  who  have  identified  it  with  the 
poisoned  cup  of  malediction.  Archbishop  Newcome,  in 
his  translation,  says  that  "khamah  is  gall  poison"  St. 
Jerome's  Version  has  gall  in  one  text,  andfftat£in  another. 
—Nott,  London  Ed.,  F.  K.  Lees,  Appendix  A,  p.  197. 
Dr.  Gill  renders  the  word,  "  thy  gall,  thy  poison"  The 
late  Professor  Nordheimer,  of  the  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  New  York  City,  in  his  Critical  Grammar -,  has 
" maddening  wine" 

Notice  the  character  given  to  this  wine :  gall,  poison, 
poison  of  serpents,  adders'  poison,  poison  of  dragons, 
poison  which  drinketh  up  the  spirits,  maddening  wine. 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  65 

How  exact  the  agreement  between  the  declarations  of  the 
Bible  and  the  teachings  of  physical  truth !  Alcohol  is 
certified  by  thousands  of  illustrations  as  poison  to  the 
human  system. 

No  wonder  that  against  such  wine  the  Scriptures  lift 
up  their  earnest  warnings,  because  wine  (yayin)  is  a 
mocker ;  because  it  "  biteth  like  a  serpent,  and  stingeth 
like  an  adder." 

5.  As  condemning  tJwsc  who  are  devoted  to  drinJc.  Isa. 
v.  22 :  "  Woe  unto  them  that  are  mighty  to  drink  (yayin) 
wine,  and  men  of  strength  to  mingle  strong  drink  :  which 
justify  the  wicked  for  reward,  and  take  away  the  right- 
eousness of  the  righteous  from  him !     Therefore  as  the 
fire  devoureth  the  stubble,  and  the  flame  consumeth  the 
chaff,  so  their  root  shall  be  as  rottenness,  and  their  blos- 
som shall  go  up  as  dust :  because  they  have  cast  away  the 
law  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  despised  the  word  of  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel." 

1  Cor.  vi.  10 :  "  Nor  drunkards  shall  inherit  the  king- 
dom of  God." 

6.  As  the  emblem  of  punishment  and  of  eternal  ruin. 
Ps.   Ix.    3 :    "  Thou  hast  made  us  to  drink  the  (yayin) 
wine   of  astonishment ;"    literally,  "  wine  of  reeling  or 
trembling."     The  Yulgate  reads,  "  suffering."     Ps.  Ixxv. 
8 :    "  For  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord  there  is  a  cup,  and  the 
(yayin)  wine  is  red ;  it  is  full  of  mixture ;  and  he  poureth 
out  of  the  same :  but  the  dregs  thereof,  all  the  wicked  of 
the  earth  shall  wring  them  out,  and  drink  them."     Isa. 
li.  17 :    "  O  Jerusalem,  which  hast  drunk  at  the  hand  of 
the  Lord  the  cup  of  his  fury ;  thou  hast  drunken  the 
dregs  of  the  cup  of  trembling,  and  wrung  them  out ;" 
also,  verse  22.    Jer.  xxv.  15  :    "  Take  the  yayin,  wine-cup, 
of  this  fury  at  my  hand."     Kev.  xvi.  19  :    "  To  give  unto 


66  THE   LAWS    OP   FERMENTATION,   AND 

her  the  cup  of  the  (oinou)  wine  of  the  fierceness  of  his 
wrath."  Rev.  xiv.  10 :  "  The  same  shall  drink  of  the 
(oinou)  wine  of  the  wrath  of  God,  which  is  poured  out 
without  mixture  into  the  cup  of  his  indignation ;  and  he 
shall  be  tormented  with  fire  and  brimstone  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  holy  angels,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Lamb  : 
and  the  smoke  of  their  torment  ascendeth  up  for  ever 
and  ever." 

GOOD  WINE. 

From  this  terrible  but  very  imperfect  setting  forth  of 
the  testimonies  of  the  Bible  in  regard  to  the  wine  whose 
character  is  bad,  I  turn,  with  a  sense  of  grateful  pleasure, 
to  another  class  of  texts  which  speaks  with  approbation  of 
a  wine  whose  character  is  good,  and  which  is  commended 
as  a  real  blessing. 

1.  This  wine  is  to  be  presented  at  the  altar  as  an  offering 
to  God.  Numb,  xviii.  12  :  "  All  the  best  of  the  oil,  and 
all  the  best  of  the  wine,  and  of  the  wheat,  the  first-fruits 
of  them  which  they  shall  offer  unto  the  Lord,  them  have 
I  given  thee."  In  this  passage,  all  the  best  of  the  wine 
(tirosh)  is  associated  with  the  best  of  the  oil  and  of  the 
wheat,  denoting  the  most  valuable  natural  productions — 
the  direct  gilt  of  God. 

That  these  terms  denote  the  fruit  of  the  soil  in.  their 
natural  state,  seems  probable  from  the  next  verse :  "  And 
whatsoever  is  first  ripe  in  the  land,  which  they  shall  bring 
unto  the  Lord,  shall  be  thine."  This  was  a  first  fruit- 
offering.  It  is  associated  with  oil,  and  flour,  and  the  first- 
fruits  ;  it  is  an  "  offering  of  wine  for  a  sweet  savor — an 
offering  made  by  fire,  for  a  sweet  savor  unto  the  Lord." 
Neh.  x.  37 :  "  Bring  the  first-fruits  of  our  dough,  and  our 
offerings,  and  the  fruit  of  all  manner  of  trees,  of  (tirosh) 


THE    WINES    OF   THE   ANCIENTS.  67 

wine,  arid  of  oil,"  etc.  Again,  verse  39:  "Bring  the 
offering  of  the  corn,  of  the  (tirosh)  new  wine,  and  the 
oil,"  etc.  From  these  passages,  it  is  held  by  some  that 
the  solid  produce  of  the  vineyard  was  here  presented. 
Chap.  xiii.  5  :  "  The  tithes  of  the  corn,  and  (tirosh) 
new  wine,  and  the  oil,"  etc. ;  and  13  :  "  The  tithe  of  the 
corn,  and  the  (tirosh)  new  wine,  and  the  oil,"  etc.  It  is 
hardly  to  be  credited,  wThen  in  the  law  (Levit.  ii.  11) 
all  leaven  was  forbidden  as  an  offering,  that  God 
should  require  a  fermented  liquor  which,  of  all  others,  is 
the  most  direct  cause  of  wretchedness  and  woe  in  this 
life,  and  of  eternal  ruin  in  the  future,  as  a  religious  offer- 
ing; that  against  the  use  of  which  he  had  uttered  his 
most  solemn  warnings  and  denunciations.  As  all  the 
other  articles  offered  in  worship  were  in  their  nature  pure 
and  harmless — were  essential  to  the  comfort  and  well- 
being  of  man,  it  is  passing  strange  that  the  wrine  should 
be  the  one  exception. 

2.  This  wine  is  classed  among  the  llessings,  the  com- 
forts',  the  necessaries  of  life.  "When  the  patriarch  Isaac 
blessed  his  son  Jacob  (Gen.  xxvii.  28),  he  said :  "  There- 
fore God  give  thee  of  the  dew  of  heaven,  and  the  fatness 
of  the  earth,  and  plenty  of  corn,  and  (tirosh)  wine."  The 
blessing  was  on  the  actual  growth  of  the  field — that 
which  "  the  dew  and  the  fatness  of  the  earth  produced ;" 
these  were  the  direct  gifts  of  God. 

Of  this  blessing,  Isaac  afterwards  said  to  Esau  (verse 
37) :  "  With  corn  and  (tirosh)  wine  I  have  sustained  him ;" 
that  is,  I  have  pledged  the  divine  blessing  to  secure  to 
him  and  his  posterity  in  plenty  the  things  necessary  for 
their  best  comfort  and  happiness.  Therefore  we  read,  Deut. 
vii.  13  :  "  And  he  will  love  thee,  and  bless  thee,  and  mul- 
tiply thee ;  he  will  also  bless  the  fruit  of  thy  womb,  and 


68  THE    LAWS    OP   FERMENTATION,    AND 

the  fruit  of  thy  land ;  thy  corn,  and  thy  (tirosh)  wine,  and 
thine  oil ;  the  increase  of  thy  kine  and  the  flocks  of  thy 
sheep  in  the  land  which  he  sware  unto  thy  fathers  to  give 
thee."  The  grouping  is  very  significant :  the  blessing 
was  to  rest  upon  "  the  fruit  of  the  womb,  upon  the  fruit 
of  the  land,  which  is  specified ;  thy  corn,  and  thy  wine, 
and  thine  oil ;  also,  the  increase  of  thy  kine  and  flocks  of 
sheep."  It  is  the  direct  and  immediate  product  of  the 
land.  To  secure  this,  God  (Deut.  xi.  14)  promised :  "  I 
will  give  you  the  rain  of  your  laud  in  his  due  season, 
the  first  rain  and  the  latter  rain,  that  thou  mayest  gather 
in  thy  corn,  and  thy  (tirosh)  wine,  and  thine  oil.  And  I 
wrill  send  grass  into  thy  fields,  that  thou  mayest  eat  and 
be  full."  Prov.  iii.  10 :  "  So  shall  thy  barns  be  filled 
with  plenty,  and  thy  presses  shall  burst  out  with  (tirosh) 
new  wine." 

Albert  Barnes,  on  Isa.  xxiv.  7,  says :  "  New  wine  (ti- 
rosh)' denotes  properly  must,  or  the  wine  that  was  newly 
expressed  from  the  grape  and  that  was  not  fermented, 
usually  translated  new  wine  or  sweet  wine." 

Isa.  Ixv.  8 :  "  As  the  new  wine  is  found  in  the  cluster, 
and  one  saith,  Destroy  it  not ;  for  a  blessing  is  in  it."  Al- 
bert Barnes  says :  "  The  Hebrew  word  (tirosh)  here  used 
means  properly  must,  or  new  wine."  On  the  words  "  for 
a  blessing  is  in  it,"  he  says :  "  That  which  is  regarded  as  a 
blessing,  that  is,  wine."  He  cites  Judges  ix.  13  in  proof: 
"  Wine  which  cheereth  God  and  man  (tirosh)." 

Joel  iii.  18 :  "  The  mountains  shall  drop  down  new  wine 
(tirosh),  and  the  hills  shall  flow  with  milk ;"  i.e.,  abund- 
ance of  blessings.  These  blessed  things  are  the  pure,  and 
harmless,  and  direct  products  of  the  land,  necessary  for 
the  comfort  and  happiness  of  man.  Is  intoxicating  wine, 
which  is  the  emblem  of  God's  wrath  and  of  eternal  nun, 


THE   WINES    OF   THE   ANCIENTS. 

among  the  things  blessed?  Still  further  (Ps.^^k^S^T 
15) :  "  He  causeth  the  grass  to  grow  for  the  cattle,  an< 
herb  for  the  service  of  man :  that  he  may  bring  forth  food 
out  of  the  earth  ;  and  wine  (yayin)  that  maketh  glad  the 
heart  of  man,  and  oil  to  make  his  face  to  shine,  and  bread 
which  strengtheneth  man's  heart."  Again,  we  read 
(Judges  ix.  13) :  "  And  the  vine  said,  Should  I"  leave  my 
(tirosh)  wine,  which  cheereth  the  heart  of  God  and  man  ?" 

Obviously,  God  can  only  be  cheered  or  pleased  with  the 
fruit  of  the  vine  as  the  product  of  his  own  power  "and  the 
gift  of  his  goodness,  and  man  is  cheered  with  it  when  he 
sees  the  ripening  clusters,  and  when  he  partakes  thereof. 

There  is  a  strange  impression,  very  current  in  our  day, 
that  nothing  can  cheer  and  exhilarate  but  alcoholic 
drinks.  Is  it  not  written,  Zech.  ix.  7,  "  Corn  shall 
make  the  young  men  cheerful,  and  new  wine  (tirosh)  the 
maids  "?  In  referring  to  the  nutritious  qualities  of  the  corn 
and  wine,  the  prophet  assigns  the  corn  to  the  young  men, 
and  the  new  wine,  tirosh,  to  the  maidens.  Here  the  new 
wine,  the  must,  or  unfermented  juice,  is  approbated.  Ps. 
iv.  7 :  "  Thou  hast  put  gladness  "  (the  same  word  which  is 
translated  cheereth  in  Judges  ix.  13)  "in  my  heart,  more 
than  in  the  time  that  their  corn  and  (tirosh)  wine  in- 
creased." 

We  all  know  that  the  weary,  hungry  man  is  cheered 
with  meat.  As  soon  as  the  nerves  of  the  stomach  are  ex- 
cited by  food,  a  sensation  of  refreshment,  of  warmth,  and 
of  cheer  is  felt.  The  woman  who,  all  day  long,  has  bent 
over  the  wash-tub  and  exhausted  her  strength,  sits  down 
at  the  close  of  the  day  to  her  cup  of  tea — 

"  The  cup  that  cheers,  but  not  inebriates  " — 
with  her  frugal  meal  of  bread,  and,  peradventure,  of 


70  THE   LA"VTS   OF   FERMEXTATIOX,   AST) 

meat,  and  rises  up  refreshed,  cheerful,  and  strong.  We 
all  know  that  good  news  is  cheering,  animating,  exhilarat- 
ing. So,  also,  is  cold  water ;  for  thus,  saith  the  Proverb 
xxv.  25 :  "  As  cold  water  to  a  thirsty  soul,  so  is  good 
news  from  a  far  country."  Water,  with  its  cheering 
power,  was  the  proper  illustration. 

3.  This  wine  is  the  emblem  of  spiritual  blessings.  Isa. 
Iv.  1 :  "  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters, 
and  he  that  hath  no  money ;  come  ye,  buy,  and  eat ;  yea, 
come,  buy  wine  (yayin)  and  milk  without  money  and  with- 
out price."  Here  the  prophet,  in  the  name  of  God,  invites 
all,  every  one,  to  take  this  wine  and  milk  freely  and 
abundantly.  How  incongruous  to  say,  Buy  milk,  and 
drink  abundantly  of  it,  for  it  is  innocent  and  nutritious, 
and  will  do  you  good ;  and  then  to  say,  Come,  buy  wine 
(yayin),  an  intoxicating  beverage,  which,  if  you  drink 
habitually  and  liberally,  will  beget  the  drunkard's  appe- 
tite, and  shut  you  out  of  heaven !  Can  it  be  that  God 
makes  the  intoxicating  wine  the  emblem  of  those  spirit- 
ual blessings  which  ensure  peace  and  prosperity  in  this 
life,  and  prepares  the  recipient  for  blessedness  hereafter  ? 
There  is  harmony  between  milk  and  unfermented  wine 
as  harmless  and  nutritious,  and  they  properly  stand  as  the 
symbols  of  spiritual  mercies.  With  this  view  agree  the 
other  scriptures  cited:  Ps.  civ.  15:  "Wine  (yayin)  that 
maketh  glad  the  heart  of  man ;"  Judges  ix.  13 :  "  Wine 
(tirosh)  which  cheereth  God  and  man;"  Cant.  vii.  9: 
"  Best  wine  for  my  beloved ;"  Prov.  ix.  2 :  "  Wisdom  hath 
mingled  her  wine  (yaynah).  Come,  eat  of  my  bread,  and 
drink  of  the  wine  (yayin)  I  have  mingled ;"  Cant.  v.  1 : 
"  I  have  drunk  my  wine  (yayiu)  with  milk :  eat,  O  friends ; 
drink,  yea,  drink  abundantly,  O  beloved." 

Such  is  the  invitation  to  drink  abundantly,  because 


THE   WINES   OF   THE   ANCIENTS.  71 

spiritual  blessings  never  injure,  but  always  do  good  to 
the  recipient. 

4.  Tliis  wine  is  the  emblem  of  the  blood  of  the  atonement, 
~by  which  is  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  eternal  blessed- 
ness. In  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  recorded 
by  Matt.  xxvi.  26-28  and  Mark  xiv.  22-24,  Christ  "  took 
the  cup,  and  gave  thanks,"  saying,  "  This  is  my  blood  of 
the  New  Testament,"  "  shed  for  the  remission  of  sins." 
The  bread  and  the  wine  are  here  united,  as  in  other  scrip- 
tures, as  blessings,  but  in  this  case  as  emblems  of  the 
most  wonderful  manifestation  of  the  divine  love  to  man. 
Paul,  1  Cor.  x.  16 :  "  The  cup  of  blessings  which  we 
bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ  ?" 
At  the  close,  Christ  said,  "  I  will  not  drink  henceforth  of 
this  fruit  of  the  vine,  until  that  day  when  I  drink  it  new 
with  you  in  my  Father's  kingdom."  Thus  the  cup  is  asso- 
ciated with  the  eternal  blessedness  of  the  heavenly  world. 
See  further  comments  on  Matt.  xxvi.  26. 

In  all  the  passages  where  good  wine  is  named,  there  is 
no  lisp  of  warning,  no  intimations  of  danger,  no  hint  of 
disapprobation,  but  always  of  decided  approval. 

How  bold  and  strongly  marked  is  the  contrast : 

The  one  the  cause  of  intoxication,  of  violence,  and  of 
woes. 

The  other  the  occasion  of  comfort  and  of  peace. 

The  one  the  cause  of  irreligion  and  of  self-destruction. 

The  other  the  devout  offering  of  piety  on  the  altar  of 
God. 

The  one  the  symbol  of  the  divine  wrath. 

The  other  the  symbol  of  spiritual  blessings. 

The  one  the  emblem  of  eternal  damnation. 

The   other  the  emblem  of  eternal  salvation. 

"  The  distinction  in  quality  between  the  good  and  the 


72 

bad  wine  is  as  clear  as  that  between  good  and  bad  men, 
or  good  and  bad  wives,  or  good  and  bad  spirits ;  for  one 
is  the  constant  subject  of  warning,  designated  poison  lit- 
erally, analogically,  and  figuratively,  wrhile  the  other  is 
commended  as  refreshing  and  innocent,  which  no  alcoholic 
wine  is." — Lees'  Appendix,  p.  232. 

Can  it  be  that  these  blessings  and  curses  refer  to  the 
same  beverage,  and  that  an  intoxicating  liquor?  Does 
the  trumpet  give  a  certain  or  an  uncertain  sound  ?  Says 
Rev.  Dr.  Nott :  "  Can  the  same  thing,  in  the  same  state, 
be  good  and  bad ;  a  symbol  of  wrath,  and  a  symbol  of 
mercy ;  a  thing  to  be  sought  after,  and  a  thing  to  be 
avoided  ?  Certainly  not.  And  is  the  Bible,  then,  incon- 
sistent with  itself?  No,  certainly." — Nott,  London  Ed. 
p.  48. 

Professor  M.  Stuart,  p.  49,  says :  "  My  final  conclusion 
is  this,  viz.,  that  whenever  the  Scriptures  speak  of  wine 
as  a  comfort,  a  blessing,  or  a  libation  to  God,  and  rank  it 
with  such 'articles  as  corn  and  oil,  they  mean,  they  can 
mean  only  such  wine  as  contained  no  alcohol  that  could 
have  a  mischievous  tendency ;  that  wherever  they  de- 
nounce it,  and  connect  it  with  drunkenness  and  revel- 
ling, they  can  mean  only  alcoholic  or  intoxicating  wine." 

But  the  position  of  the  advocates  of  only  one  kind  of 
wine  is  that  "  the  juice  of  the  giape,  when  called  wine, 
was  always  fermented,  and,  being  fermented,  was  always 
intoxicating ;"  "  that  fermentation  is  the  essence  of  wine." 
One  exception  will  destroy  the  universality  of  this  sweep- 
ing statement. 

THE    WINE    OF    EGYPT. 

Gen.  xl.  11 :  "I  took  the  grapes,  and  pressed  them  into 
Pharaoh's  cup,  and  I  gave  the  cup  into  Pharaoh's  hand." 


THE    WINES    OF    THE    ANCIENTS.  73 

To  break  the  force  of  this,  it  is  pleaded  that  it  was  only  a 
dream.  But  a  dream  designed  to  certify  an  immediate 
coming  event  could  only  be  intelligible  and  pertinent  by 
representing  an  existing  usage. 

A  singular  proof  of  the  ancient  usage  of  squeezing  the 


juice  of  grapes  into  a  cup  has  been  exhumed  at  Pompeii." 
It  is  that  of  Bacchus  standing  by  a  pedestal,  and  holding 


74  THE    LAWS    OF    FERMENTATION,    AND 

in  both  liands  a  large  cluster  of  grapes,  and  squeezing  the 
juice  into  a  cup. 

"  Plutarch  affirms  that  before  the  time  of  Psammetichus, 
who  lived  six  hundred  years  before  Christ,  the  Egyptians 
neither  drank  fermented  wine  nor  offered  it  in  sacrifice." 
—Nott,  Third  Lecture. 

"  In  remote  antiquity,  grapes  were  brought  to  the  table, 
and  the  juice  there  expressed  for  immediate  use." — Nott, 
London  Ed.  p.  58. 

"  Josephus'  version  of  the  butler's  speech  is  as  follows : 
He  said  4  that  by  the  king's  permission  he  pressed  the 
grapes  into  a  goblet,  and,  having  strained  the  sweet 
wine,  he  gave  it  to  the  king  to  drink,  and  that  he 
received  it  graciously."  Josephus  here  uses  GLEUKOS 
to  designate  the  expressed  juice  of  the  grape  before  fer- 
mentation could  possibly  commence." — Bible  Commen- 
tary, p.  18. 

Bishop  Lowth  of  England,  in  his  Commentary  on  Isaiah, 
in  1778,  remarking  upon  Isa.  v.  2,  refers  to  the  case  of 
Pharaoh's  butler,  and  says,  "  By  which  it  would  seem  that 
the  Egyptians  drank  only  the  fresh  juice  pressed  from  the 
grapes,  which  was  called  oinos  ampilinos,  i.e.,  wine  of 
the  vineyards." 

Rev.  Dr.  Adam  Clark,  on  Gen.  xl.  11,  says  :  "  Erom  this 
we  find  that  wine  anciently  was  the  mere  expressed  juice 
of  the  grape  without  fermentation.  The  saky,  or  cup- 
bearer, took  the  bunch,  pressed  the  juice  into  the  cup,  and 
instantly  delivered  it  into  the  liands  of  his  master.  This 
was  anciently  the  yayin  [wine]  of  the  Hebrews,  the  oinos 
[wine]  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  mustum  [new  fresh  wine] 
of  the  ancient  Latins."  Baxter's  Comprehensive  JBihle 
quotes  Dr.  Clark  with  approbation. 

"  It   appears  that  the  Mohammedans   of  Arabia  press 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    AXCIEXTS.  75 

the  juice  of  the  grape  into  a  cup,  and  drink  it  as  Pharaoh 
did."— JV0#,  London  Ed.  p.  59. 
Milton  says  of  Eve  : 

"  For  drink  the  grape  she  crushed — inoffensive  must." 
So  also  Gray : 

"  Scent  the  new  fragrance  of  the  breathing  rose, 
And  quaff  the  pendent  vintage  as  it  grows." 

Nott,  59. 

NEW    WINE   AND    OLD   BOTTLES. 

The  first  occasion,  following  the  order  of  the  Gospels,  on 
which  Christ  speaks  of  wine,  he  says  (Matt.  ix.  17) : 
"Neither  do  men  put  new  wine  into  old  bottles,"  etc. 
A  similar  statement  is  also  made  by  Mark  ii.  22  and 
Luke  v.  37. 

Our  Lord  here  refers  to  a  well-known  custom,  in  his 
day,  in  relation  to  the  keeping  of  wine.  Notice  the  facts. 
They  did  not  put  (oinos  neos)  new  wine — the  juice  fresh 
from  the  press — into  old  bottles,  then  made  of  the  skins 
of  goats,  and  the  reason  is  given,  "  Else  the  bottles  break, 
and  the  wine  runneth  out,  and  the  bottles  perish."  But 
it  was  the  custom  to  put  the  new  wine  into  new  bottles, 
and  the  reason  is  given,  "  That  both  the  wine  and  the  bot- 
tles are  thus  preserved." 

The  explanation  which  the  advocates  of  but  one  kind 
of  wine  give  is  that  new  bags  were  used  in  order  to  resist 
the  expansive  force  of  the  carbonic  acid  gas  generated  by 
fermentation.  This  explanation  necessarily  admits  that 
the  new  wine  had  not  yet  fermented  ;  for,  if  it  had  been 
fermented,  the  old  bottles  would  suit  just  as  well  as  the 
new ;  but  the  new,  it  is  pleaded,  were  required  to  resist 


TO  THE    LAWS    OF    FERMENTATION,    AND 

the  force  of  fermentation.  They  thus  concede  that  the 
new  wine  had  not  yet  fermented. 

Chambers,  in  his  Cyclopaedia,  says :  "  The  force  of  fer- 
menting wine  is  very  great,  being  able,  if  closely  stopped 
up,  to  burst  through  the  strongest  cask."  What  chance 
would  a  goat-skin  have  ? 

I  have  said,  if  the  "  new  wine  "  had  already  fermented, 
the  old  bottles  would  suit  just  as  well  as  the  new ;  but,  if 
not  fermented,  the  old  would  not  suit,  not  because  they 
were  weak,  but  because  they  would  have  portions  of  the 
albuminous  matter  or  yeast  adhering  to  the  sides.  This, 
having  absorbed  oxygen  from  the  air,  would  become  active 
fermenting  matter,  and  would  communicate  it  to  the  en- 
tire mass. 

Liebig  informs  us  that  "fermentation  depends  upon  the 
access  of  air  to  the  grape-juice,  the  gluten  of  which  ab- 
sorbs oxygen  and  becomes  ferment,  communicating  its  own 
decomposition  to  the  saccharine  matter  of  the  grapes." — 
Kitto,  ii.  955. 

The  new  bottles  or  skins,  being  clean  and  perfectly  free 
from  all  ferment,  were  essential  for  preserving  the  fresh 
unfermented  juice,  not  that  their  strength  might  resist 
the  force  of  fermentation,  but,  being  clean  and  free  from 
fermenting  matter,  and  closely  tied  and  sealed,  so  as  to 
exclude  the  air,  the  wine  would  be  preserved  in  the  same 
state  in  which  it  was  when  put  into  those  skins. 

Columella,  who  lived  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  in  his 
receipt  for  keeping  the  wine  " always  sweet"  expressly 
directs  that  the  newest  must,  be  put  in  a  "new  amphora" 
or  jar. 

Smith,  in  his  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,  says: 
"  When  it  was  desired  to  preserve  a  quantity  in  the  sweet 
state,  an  amphora  was  taken  and  coated  with  pitch  within 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  V7 

and  without ;  it  was  filled  with  the  mustum  lixivium,  and 
corked,  so  as  to  be  perfectly  air-tight." 

The  facts  stated  by  Christ  are  in  perfect  keeping  with 
the  practice  prevailing  in  his  day  to  prevent  the  pure, 
juice  of  the  grape  from  fermenting.  The  new  amphora — 
the  amphora  coated  with  pitch  within  and  without — and 
the  new  l)ottles,  all  have  reference  to  the  same  custom. 
The  people  of  Palestine' must  have  been  familiar  with  this 
custom,  or  Christ  would  not  have  used  it  as  an  illustra- 
tion. This  passage,  properly  viewed  in  connection  with 
the  usages  of  the  day,  goes  a  great  way  toward  establish- 
ing the  fact  that  Christ  and  the  people  of  Palestine  recog- 
nized the  existence  of  two  kinds  of  wine — the  fermented 
and  the  unfermented. 

This  passage  also  helps  us  to  understand  the  character 
of  the  wine  Christ-  used,  which  he  made  for  the  wedding 
at  Cana,  and  which  he  selected  as  the  symbol  of  his 
atoning  blood. 

CHRIST    EATING   AND   DRINKING. 

Matt.  xi.  18, 19  :  "  John  came  neither  eating  nor  drink- 
ing, and  they  say,  He  hath  a  devil.  The  Son  of  man  came 
eating  and  drinking,  and  they  say,  Behold  a  man  glutton- 
ous, and  a  wine-bibber,  a  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners. 
But  wisdom  is  justified  of  her  children."  The  Saviour, 
in  the  verses  immediately  preceding,  illustrated  the  cap- 
tiousness  and  unreasonableness  of  those  who  were  deter- 
mined not  to  be  pleased,  but  under  all  circumstances  to 
find  fault.  "Whereunto  shall  I  liken  this  generation?  It 
is  like  unto  children  sitting  in  the  markets  and  calling 
unto  their  fellows,  and  saying,  "We  have  piped  unto  you, 
and  ye  have  not  danced ;  we  have  mourned  unto  you,  and 


AND 


ye  have  not  lamented."  Christ  directly  applies  this  illus- 
tration by  reference  to  the  estimate  placed  upon  John  and 
himself  by  that  generation. 

John  was  a  Nazarite,  and  conformed  rigidly  to  the  re- 
quirements of  that  order.  When  they  noticed  his  austere 
abstinence,  peculiar  habits,  rough  attire,  and  uncompro- 
mising denunciations,  they  were  not  pleased,  and  dis- 
missed him  with  the  remark,  "  lie  hath  a  devil."  When 
they  saw  Christ,  whose  mission  was  different  from  that  of 
John,  and  perceived  that  he  practised  no  austerities^  but 
lived  like  other  men,  and  mingled  socially  with  even  the 
despised  of  men,  they  were  no  better  pleased,  and  said, 
"  Behold  a  man  gluttonous,  and  a  wine-bibber,  a  friend  of 
publicans  and  sinners."  It  is  on  such  authority  that  the 
advocates  of  alcoholic  wines  claim  that  Christ  was  accus- 
tomed to  use  them.  At  best,  it  is  only  inferential,  because 
he  ate  and  drank,  and  was  "  a  friend  of  publicans  and  sin- 
ners," that  he  therefore  necessarily  drank  intoxicating 
wine.  We  notice  that  the  same  authority  which  said  he 
was  a  "  wine-bibber  "  also  said  he  was  '  '  gluttonous."  And 
on  two  other  occasions  (John  i.  20,  viii.  48)  they  said  he 
had  a  devil.  If  we  believe  the  first  charge  on  the  author- 
ity of  his  enemies,  we  must  also  believe  the  second  and  the 
third,  for  the  authority  is  the  same.  It  will  be  borne  in 
mind  that  these,  his  enemies,  traduced  his  character  that 
they  might  destroy  his  influence.  They  judged  that  the 
charge  of  wine-bibbing,  whether  it  implied  drunkenness  or 
sensuality,  was  the  most  damaging  to  his  influence  as  a 
religious  teacher  and  reformer.  It  should  also  be  remem- 
bered that  his  enemies  were  unscrupulous,  malignant,  and 
not  noted  for  their  truthfulness. 

Dr.  John  J.  Owen,  in  his  Commentary  r,  says  :  "  As  wine 
was  a  common  beverage  in  that  land  of  vineyards,  in  its 


THE    WINES    OP   THE    ANCIENTS.  79 

unfermented  state,  our  Lord  most  likely  drank  it."  The 
Saviour  did  not  turn  aside  from  his  work  to  clear  himself 
from  the  charges  which  malignity  and  falsehood  brought 
against  him.  He  simply  said,  "  Wisdom  is  justified  of 
her  children ;"  that  is,  My  work  and  my  character  will 
ultimately  shield  me  from  the  power  of  all  false  accusa- 
tions. Those  who  know  me  will  not  be  affected  by  them, 
and  those  who  hate  me  will  not  cease  from  their  calumny. 

Matt,  xxi.  33  :  "  Vineyard  and  wine-press."  Neither  of 
these  determine  anything  of  the  character  of  the  wine 
which  was  made.  It  is  begging  the  question  to  say  that 
all  was  fermented,  especially  as  the  quotations  from  an- 
cient authors  show  that  there  were  two  kinds — the  fer- 
mented and  the  unfermented. 

Matt.  xxiv.  38  :  "  Eating  and  drinking."  These  terms 
denote  hilarious,  thoughtless,  and,  perhaps,  excessive  dis- 
sipation. Admit  that  what  they  drank  was  intoxicating, 
it  only  proves,  what  no  one  denies,  that  there  were  inebri- 
ating drinks,  but  does  not  and  cannot  prove  there  were 
no  others. 

Matt.  xxiv.  49  :  "  Eat  and  drink  with  the  drunken." 
This  states  a  fact  which  we  admit,  and  is  proof  that  there 
were  then  intoxicating  liquors,  and  that  some  men  then 
used  them. 


THE   LORD'S    SUPPER. 


Matt.  xxvi.  26,  27.  Having  finished  the  Passover,  our 
Lord  "  took  bread,"  unleavened,  unfermented  bread,  and 
blessed  it.  This  was  done  always  at  the  Passover,  and  was 
by  Christ  transferred  to  the  Supper.  He  gave  it  to  his 
disciples  as  the  symbol  of  his  body.  Then  he  took  the 
cup,  and  gave  thanks.  This  also  was  done  on  giving  the 


80  THE   LAWS    OF    FERMENTATION,    AND 

third  cup  at  the  Passover.  This  he  also  transferred,  and 
gave  it  to  his  disciples  as  the  symbol  of  his  blood,  "  shed 
for  the  remission  of  sins."  The  bread  and  the  cup  were 
used  with  no  discrimination  as  to  their  character.  To  be 
in  harmony  with  the  bread,  the  cup  should  also  have  been 
unfermented.  It  was  the  Passover  bread  and  wine  that 
Christ  used.  In  Ex.  xii.  8,  15,  17-20,  34,  39,  and  other 
places,  all  leaven  is  forbidden  at  that  feast  and  for  seven 
<lu  vs.  The  prohibition  against  the  presence  and  use  of 
all  fermented  articles  was  under  the  penalty  of  being  "  cut 
off  from  Israel."  "  The  law  forbade  seor — yeast,  ferment, 
whatever  could  excite  fermentation — and  khahmatz, 
whatever  had  undergone  fermentation,  or  been  subject  to 
the  action  of  seor" — Bible  Commentary,  p.  280. 

Professor  Moses  Stuart,  p.  16,  says:  "The  Hebrew 
word  khahmatz  means  anything  fermented."  P.  20 :  "  All 
leaven,  i.e.  fermentation,  was  excluded  from  offerings  to 
God.— Levit.  ii.  3-14." 

"  The  great  mass  of  the  Jews  have  ever  understood  this 
prohibition  as  extending  to  fermented  wine,  or  strong 
drink,  as  well  as  to  bread.  The  word  is  essentially  the 
same  which  designates  the  fermentation  of  bread  and  that 
of  liquors." 

Gesenius,  the  eminent  Hebraist,  says  that  "  leaven  ap- 
plied to  the  wine  as  really  as  to  the  bread." — Thayer, 
p.  71. 

The  Rev.  A.  P.  Peabody,  D.D.,  in  his  essay  on  the  Lord's 
Supper,  says  :  "  The  writer  has  satisfied  himself,  by  care- 
ful research,  that  in  our  Saviour's  time  the  Jews,  at  least 
the  high  ritualists  among  them,  extended  the  prohibition 
of  leaven  to  the  principle  of  fermentation  in  every  form; 
and  that  it  was  customary,  at  the  Passover  festival,  for  the 
master  of  the  household  to  press  the  contents  of  ( the  cup ' 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  81 

from  dusters  of  grapes  preserved  for  this  special  pur- 
pose"— Monthly  Review,  Jan.,  1870,  p.  41. 

"  Fermentation  is  nothing  else  but  the  putrefaction  of 
a  substance  containing  no  nitrogen.  Ferment,  or  yeast,  is 
a  substance  in  a  state  of  putrefaction,  the  atoms  of  which 
are  in  continual  motion  (Turner ]s  Chemistry,  ~by  Liebig}" 
—Kitto,  ii.  236. 

Leaven,  because  it  was  corruption,  was  forbidden  as  an 
offering  to  God.  Ex.  xxxiv.  25  :  "  Thou  shalt  not  offer 
the  blood  of  my  sacrifice  with  leaven."  But  salt,  because 
it  prevents  corruption  and  preserves,  is  required.  Levit. 
ii.  13  :  "  With  all  thine  offerings  thou  shalt  offer  salt."  If 
leaven  was  not  allowed  with  the  sacrifices,  which  were 
the  types  of  the  atoning  blood  of  Christ,  how  much  more 
would  it  be  a  violation  of  the  commandment  to  allow 
leaven,  or  that  which  was  fermented,  to  be  the  symbol  of 
the  blood  of  atonement?  We  cannot  imagine  that  our 
Lord,  in  disregard  of  so  positive  a  command,  would  ad- 
mit leaven  into  the  element  which  was  to  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  the  sacrifice  of  himself,  of  which  all  the  other 
sacrifices  were  but  types. 

Our  Lord  blessed  the  bread,  and  for  the  cup  he  gave 
thanks.  Each  element  alike  was  the  occasion  of  devout 
blessing  and  thanksgiving.  This  cup  contained  that  which 
the  Saviour,  just  about  to  suffer,  could  bless,  and  which 
he,  for  all  time,  designated  as  the  symbol  of  his  own  aton- 
ing blood. 

Having  finished  the  Supper,  in  parting  with  his  disci- 
ples he  said,  "  I  will  not  drink  henceforth  of  this  fruit  of 
the  vine,  until  that  day  when  I  drink  it  new  with  you  in 
my  Father's  kingdom." 

The  Saviour  does  not  use  oinos,  the  usual  word  for 
wine,  but  adopts  the  phrase  "genneematos  tees  ampelou," 


82  TUB   LAWS    OP   FERMENTATION,   AND 

"  tins  fruit  of  the  vine."  "Was  it  because  oinos  was  a 
generic  word,  including  the  juice  of  the  grape  in  all  its 
stages,  that  he  chose  a  more  specific  phrase  ?  Was  it  be- 
cause he  had  previously  selected  the  vine  as  the  illustra- 
tion of  himself  as  the  true  vine,  and  his  disciples  as  the 
fruit-bearing  branches,  and  the  juice  as  "  the  pure  blood 
of  the  grape  "  ?  (Deut.  xxxii.  14.) 

By  "  this  fruit  of  the  vine,"  did  he  intimate  that  "  in 
his  Father's  kingdom  "  there  was  something  to  be  looked 
for  there  answering  to  intoxicating  wine  ?  This  cannot 
be  tolerated  for  a  moment.  By  "  this  fruit  of  the  vine," 
did  he  mean  inebriating  wine  ?  Dr.  Laurie,  JBibliotheca 
Sacra,  June,  1869,  says,  "  The  Bible  never  requires  the  use 
of  wine  (intoxicating)  except  at  the  communion-table,  or 
as  a  medicine  prescribed  by  another  than  the  party  who  is 
to  use  it."  This  is  emphatic,  and  promptly  answers  the 
question  in  the  affirmative.  It  is  strange,  very  strange, 
that  our  Lord  should  require  his  disciples  perpetually  to 
use,  as  a  religious  duty,  at  his  table,  the  article  which  Dr. 
Laurie  says  "  all  good  men  agree  is  dangerous,  and  not  to 
be  used  except  as  a  medicine  prescribed  by  another." 
Does  Christ,  who  has  taught  us  to  pray  "  lead  us  not  into 
temptation,"  thus  require  his  disciples  to  use  habitually, 
in  remembrance  of  him,  an  article  too  dangerous  to  be 
used  anywhere  else  ? 

The  fact  that  the  Passover  was  six  months  later  than 
the  vintage  is  not  an  invincible  objection,  since,  as  we 
have  seen  in  the  preceding  pages,  on  the  authority  of  Jo- 
sephus,  of  travellers  JSi  iebuhr  and  Swinburne,  and  of 
Peppini,  the  wine-merchant  of  Florence,  and  others,  that 
grapes  are  preserved  fresh  through  the  year,  and  that  wine 
may  be  made  from  them  at  any  period. 

Is  it  probable  that  Christ  took  an  intoxicating  liquor, 


THE   WINES    OF   THE   ANCIENTS.  83 

which  in  all  the  ages  past  had  been  the  cause  of  misery 
and  ruin,  and  which  in  all  the  ages  to  come  would  destroy 
myriads  in  temporal  and  eternal  destruction  ;  that  he  took 
the  wine  which  his  own  inspired  Word  declared  was  "  the 
poison  of  asps,"  "  the  poison  of  serpents,"  "  the  poison  of 
dragons,"  whose  deadly  bite  is  like  a  serpent,  and  whose 
fatal  sting  is  like  an  adder,  and  made  that  the  symbol  of 
his  atonement,  saying,  "  This  is  the  New  Testament  in  my 
blood  "  ?  But,  in  "  the  fruit  of  the  vine,"  pure,  unfer- 
mented,  healthful,  and  life-sustaining,  and  which  the  Scrip- 
tures called  "the  blood  of  the  grape"  and  " the  pure 
blood  of  the  grape,"  there  was  harmony  and  force  in 
making  it  the  symbol  of  atoning  blood  by  which  we  have 
spiritual  life  and  eternal  blessedness. 

The  Apostle  Paul,  1  Cor.  x.  15,  not  only  avoids  the 
word  oinos  (wine),  but  calls  the  liquor  used  "  the  cup  of 
blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the 
blood  of  Christ  ?"  And  in  xi.  25  he  quotes  the  exact 
words  of  Christ,  "  This  cup  is  the  New  Testament  in  my 
blood." 

Clement,  of  Alexandria,  A.D.  180,  designates  the  liquid 
used  by  Christ  as  "  the  Hood  of  the  vine." — Kitto,  ii.  801. 

Thomas  Aquinas  says,  "  Grape-juice  has  the  specific  qual- 
ity of  wine,  and,  therefore,  this  sacrament  may  be  cele- 
brated with  grape-juice." — Nott,  London  Ed.  p.  94,  note. 

Mark  ii.  22  :  "  New  wine  in  new  bottles."  See  Matt. 
ix.  17. 

Mark  xii.  1 :  Vineyard,  wine-fat.     See  Matt.  xxi.  33. 

Mark  xiv.  23-25  :  Lord's  Supper.     See  Matt.  xxvi.  26. 

Mark  xv.  23  :  "  Wine  mingled  with  myrrh."  This  is 
a  specially  prepared  article,  and  not  the  pure  juice  of  the 
grape.  This  Christ  refused. 

Luke  i.  15:  "Drink  neither  wine  nor  strong  drink," 


84  THE    LAWS    OF    FERMENTATION,    AND 

This  had  reference  to  John  as  a  Nazarite,  and,  so  far  as 
it  is  applicable  to  the  case  in  hand,  favors  total  abstinence 
as  favorable  to  physical  and  spiritual  strength. 

Luke  v.  3T-39 :  "  New  wine  in  new  bottles."  See 
Matt.  ix.  17. 

Luke  vii.  33-35:  John  the  Baptist.  See  Matt.  xi. 
18,  19. 

Luke  x.  7 :  "  Eating  and  drinking  "  This  direction  to 
his  disciples  is  simply  to  take  of  the  ordinary  hospitality. 
Only  by  violent  construction  can  it  imply  that  alcoholic 
were  the  only  drinks  offered  them. 

Luke  x.  34 :  "  Pouring  in  oil  and  wine."  This  was  an 
external  and  medicinal  application.  The  mixture  of  the 
two  formed  a  healing  ointment.  Pliny  mentions  "  oleum 
gleucinum^\\\\c\\  was  compounded  of  oil  and  gleucus 
(sweet  wine),  as  an  excellent  ointment  for  wounds."  "  Co- 
lumella  gives  the  receipt  for  making  it." — Bible  Commen- 
tary, p.  297. 

Luke  xii.  19  :  "  Eat,  drink,  and  be  merry."  This  is  the 
language  of  a  sensualist,  and  is  used  by  Christ  -to  illus- 
trate not  the  propriety  of  drinking  usages,  but  that  covet- 
ousness  is  living  to  self. 

O 

Luke  xii.  45 :  "  Eat,  drink,  and  be  drunken."  See 
Matt.  xxiv.  49. 

Luke  xvii.  27,  28  :  "  Drank,"  etc.     See  Matt.  xxiv.  38. 

Luke   xx.  9 :  Planted  vineyard.     See  Matt.  xxi.  33 ; 

Luke  xxi.  34 :  "  Surfeiting  and  drunkenness,"  literally,  in 
debauch  and  drunkenness.  Robinson,  "properly,  seizure 
of  the  head:  hence  intoxication." 

Christ  here  warns  equally  against  being  "  overcharged 
with  surfeiting,  and  drunkenness,  and  cares  of  this  life." 
This  text  decides  nothing  in  respect  to  wine  which  would 
not  intoxicate,  but  warns  against  the  drinks  that  w^ould. 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  85 

Nor  does  it  bear  upon  the  propriety  of  moderate  drink- 
ing. 

WEDDING-WINE    AT   CANA. 

John  ii.  1-11 :  The  distinguishing  fact  is  that  Christ 
turned  the  water  into  wine.  The  Greek  word  is  oinos  ; 
and  it  is. claimed  that  therefore  the  wine  was  alcoholic 
and  intoxicating.  But  as  oinos  is  a  generic  word,  and,  as 
such,  includes  all  kinds  of  wine  and  all  stages  of  the  juice 
of  the  grape,  and  sometimes  the  clusters  and  even  the  vine, 
it  is  begging  the  whole  question  to  assert  that  it  was  in- 
toxicating. As  the  narrative  is  silent  on  this  point,  the 
character  of  the  wine  can  only  be  determined  by  the  at- 
tendant circumstances — by  the  occasion,  the  material 
used,  the  person  making  the  wine,  and  the  moral  influence 
of  the  miracle. 

The  occasion  was  a  wedding  convocation .  The  material 
was  water — the  same  element  which  the  clouds  pour  down, 
which  the  vine  draws  up  from  the  earth  by  its  roots,  and 
in  its  passage  to  the  clusters  changes  into  juice.  The 
operator  was  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  who,  in  the  begin- 
ning, fixed  that  law  by  which  the  vine  takes  up  water  and 
converts  it  into  pure,  unfermented  juice. 

The  wine  provided  by  the  family  was  used  up,  and  the 
mother  of  Jesus  informed  him  of  that  fact.  He  directed 
that  the  six  water-pots  be  filled  with  water.  This  being 
done,  he  commanded  to  draw  and  hand  it  to  the  master 
of  the  feast.  He  pronounced  it  wine — good  wine. 

The  moral  influence  of  the  miracle  will  be  determined 
by  the  character  of  the  wine.  It  is  pertinent  to  ask,  Is  it 
not  derogatory  to  the  character  of-  Christ  and  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Bible  to  suppose  that  he  exerted  his  miracu- 


86  THE   LAWS    OF    FERMENTATION,    A  VD 

lous  power  to  produce,  according  to  Alvord,  126,  and 
according  to  Smith,  at  least  60  gallons  of  intoxicating 
wine? — wine  which  inspiration  had  denounced  as  "a 
mocker,"  as  "  biting  like  a  serpent,"  and  "  stinging  like 
an  adder,"  as  "the  poison  of  dragons,"  "the  cruel  venom 
of  asps,"  and  which  the  Holy  Ghost  had  selected  as  the 
emblem  of  the  wrath  of  God  Almighty?  Is  it  proba- 
ble that  he  gave  that  to  the  guests  after  they  had  used  the 
wine  provided  by  the  host,  and  which,  it  is  claimed,  was 
intoxicating  ? 

But  wherein  was  the  miracle  f  We  read  in  Matt.  xv.  34: 
that  Christ  fed  four  thousand  persons,  and  in  Mark  vi. 
38  that  he  fed  five  thousand  persons,  in  each  case  upon  a 
few  loaves  and  fishes,  taking  up  seven  and  twelve  baskets 
of  fragments.  In  these  cases,  Christ  did  instantly  what, 
by  the  laws  of  nature  which  he  had  ordained,  it  would 
have  taken  months  to  grow  and  ripen  into  wheat.  So  in 
the  case  of  the  wine,  Christ,  by  supernatural  and  super- 
human rapidity,  produced  that  marvellous  conversion  of 
water  into  the  "  pure  blood  of  the  grape  "  which,  by  his 
own  established  law  of  nature,  takes  place  annually 
through  a  series  of  months,  as  the  vine  draws  up  the 
water  from  the  earth,  and  transmutes  it  into  the  pure  and 
unfermented  juice  found  in  the  rich,  ripe  clusters  on  the 
vine. 

In  Ps.  civ.  1-i,  15,  we  read :  "  That  he  may  bring  forth 
food  out  of  the  earth,  and  wine  that  maketh  glad  the 
heart  of  man."  Here  the  juice  of  the  grape  which  is 
produced  out  of  the  earth  is  called  wine.  This  wine  was 
made  by  the  direct  law  of  God — that  law  by  which  the 
vine  draws  water  from  the  earth  and  transmutes  it  into 
pure  juice  in  the  clusters. 

I  am  happy  to  state  that  this  is  not  a  modern  interpre- 


THE    WINES    OP   THE   AXCIENTS.  87 

tation,  forced  out  by  the  pressure  of  the  wine  question, 
but  was  also  entertained  by  the  early  fathers. 

St.  Augustine,  born  A.D.  354,  thus  explains  this  mira- 
cle:  "  For  he  on  that  marriage-day  made  wine  in  the  six 
jars  which  he  ordered  to  be  filled  with  water — he  who 
now  makes  it  every  year  in  the  vines ;  for,  as  what  the 
servants  had  poured  into  the  water-jars  was  turned  into 
wine  by  the  power  of  the  Lord,  so,  also,  that  which  the 
clouds  pour  forth  is  turned  into  wine  by  the  power  of  the 
self-same  Lord.  But  we  cease  to  wonder  at  what  is  done 
every  year;  its  very  frequency  makes  astonishment  to 
fail." — Bible  Commentary,  p.  305. 

Chrysostom,  born  A.D.  344,  says :  "  Now,  indeed,  mak- 
ing plain  that  it  is  he  who  changes  into  wine  the  water 
in  the  vines  and  the  rain  drawn  up  by  the  roots.  He 
produced  instantly  at  the  wedding-feast  that  which  is 
formed  in  the  plant  during  a  long  course  of  time." — Bible 
Commentary,  p.  305. 

Dr.  Joseph  Hall,  Bishop  of  Norwich,  England,  in 
1600,  says :  "  What  doeth  he  in  the  ordinary  way  of  na- 
ture but  turn  the  watery  juice  that  arises  up  from  the 
root  into  wine  ?  He  will  only  do  this,  now  suddenly  and 
at  once,  which  he  does  usually  by  sensible  degrees." — 
Bible  Commentary,  p.  305. 

The  critical  Dr.  Trench,  now  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 
says  :  "  He  who  each  year  prepares  the  wine  in  the  grape, 
causing  it  to  drink  up  and  swell  with  the  moisture  of 
earth  and  heaven,  to  transmute  this  into  its  own  nobler 
juices,  concentrated  all  those  slower  processes  now  into 
the  act  of  a  single  moment,  and  accomplished  in  an  in- 
stant what  ordinarily  he  does  not  accomplish  but  in 
months." — Bible  Commentary,  p.  305. 

have  the  highest  authority  that  alcohol  is  not  found 


88  THE    LAWS    OP   FERMENTATION,    AND 

in  any  living  thing,  and  is  not  a  process  of  life.  Sir  Hum- 
phry Davy  says  of  alcohol :  "  It  has  never  been  found 
ready  formed  in  plants." 

Count  Chaptal,  the  eminent  French  chemist,  says: 
"  Xature  never  forms  spirituous  liquors ;  she  rots  the 
grape  upon  the  branch,  but  it  is  art  which  converts  the 
juice  into  (alcoholic)  wine/' 

Dr.  Henry  Monroe,  in  his  Lecture  on  Medical  Juris- 
prudence, says :  "  Alcohol  is  nowhere  to  be  found  in  any 
product  of  nature ;  was  never  created  by  God  ;  but  is  es- 
sentially an  artificial  thing  prepared  by  man  through  the 
destructive  process  of  fermentation." 

Professor  Liebig  says :  "  It  is  contrary  to  all  sober  rules 
of  research  to  regard  the  vital  process  of  an  animal  or  a 
plant  as  the  cause  of  fermentation.  The  opinion  that 
they  take  any  share  in  the  morbid  process  must  be  rejected 
as  an  hypothesis  destitute  of  all  support.  In  all  fungi, 
analysis  has  detected  the  presence  of  sugar,  which  during 
the  vital  process  is  not  resolved  into  alcohol  and  carbonic 
acid,  but  AFTEK  THEIR  DEATH.  It  is  the  veiy  reverse  of 
the  vital  process  to  which  this  effect  must  be  ascribed. 
Fermentation,  putrefaction,  and  decay  are  processes  of 
decomposition."  See  notes  on  1  Tim.  iv.  4. 

Can  it  be  seriously  entertained  that  Christ  should,  by 
his  miraculous  power,  make  alcohol,  an  article  abundantly 
proved  not  to  be  found  in  all  the  ranges  of  his  creation  ? 
Can  it  be  believed  that  he,  by  making  alcohol,  sanctions 
the  making  of  it  and  the  giving  of  it  to  his  creatureSj 
when  he,  better  than  all  others,  knew  that  it,  in  the  past, 
had  been  the  cause  of  the  temporal  and  eternal  ruin  of 
myriads,  and  which,  in  all  the  ages  to  come,  would  plunge 
myriads  upon  myriads  into  the  depths  of  eternal  damna- 
tion? 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  89 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Jacobus  says :  "  All  who  know  of  the 
wines  then  used,  well  understand  the  unfermented  juice 
of  the  grape.  The  present  wines  of  Jerusalem  and  Leba- 
non, as  we  tasted  them,  were  commonly  boiled  and  sweet, 
without  intoxicating  qualities,  such  as  we  here  get  in 
liquors  called  wines.  The  boiling  prevents  fermentation. 
Those  were  esteemed  the  best  wines  which  were  least 
strong." — Comments  on  John  ii.  1-11. 

This  festive  occasion  furnishes  no  sanction  for  the  use 
of  the  alcoholic  wines  of  commerce  at  weddings  at  the 
present  time,  much  less  for  the  use  of  them  on  other  oc- 
casions. 

Acts-  ii.  13  :  "  Others  mocking  said,  These  men  are  full 
of  new  wine." 

To  account  for  the  strange  fact  that  unlettered  Galile- 
ans, without  previous  study,  could  speak  a  multitude  of 
languages,  the  mockers  implied  they  were  drunk,  and 
that  it  was  caused  by  new  wine  (gleukos).  Here 
are  two  improbabilities.  The  first  is,  that  drinking 
alcoholic  wine  could  teach  men  languages.  We  know 
that  such  wines  make  men  talkative  and  garrulous ;  and  we 
also  know  that  their  talk  is  very  silly  and  offensive.  In 
all  the  ages,  and  with  the  intensest  desire  to  discover  a 
royal  way  to  knowledge,  no  one  but  these  mockers  has 
hit  upon  alcohol  as  an  immediate  and  successful  teacher 
of  languages. 

The  second  improbability  is,  that  gleiikos,  new  wine, 
would  intoxicate.  This  is  the  only  place  in  the  New  Tes 
tament  where  this  word  occurs.  Donnegan's  Lexicon 
renders  gleukos,  "  new,  unfermented  wine — must."  From 
"  glukus,  sweet,  agreeable  to  the  taste  ; "  where  oinos  is 
understood,  "  sweet  wine  made  by  boiling  grapes." 

Dr.  E.  Robinson,  quoting  classical  authorities,  defines 


90  THE   LAWS    OF   FEKMEXTATIOX,    AXD 

gleukos,  "must — grape-juice  unfermented ;"  but,  seem- 
ingly with  no  other  authority  than  the  mockers,  adds: 
"  Acts  ii.  13 :  Sweet  wine,  fermented  and  intoxicat- 
ing." 

Dr.  S.  T.  Bloomfield  says :  "  Gleukos,  not  new-made 
wine,  which  is  the  proper  signification  of  the  word  (for 
that  is  forbidden  by  the  time  of  the  year) ;  but  new,  i.e. 
sweet  wine,  which  is  very  intoxicating." 

Kev.  T.  S.  Green's  Lexicon,  gleukos,  "  the  unfermented 
juice  of  the  grape,  must ;  hence,  sweet  new  wine.  Acts 
ii.  13.  From  glukus,  sweet.  Jas.  iii.  11,  12 ;  Bom.  x. 
9, 10." 

Science  teaches  that,  when  by  fermentation  the  sugar  is 
turned  into  alcohol,  the  sweetness  of  the  juice  is  gone. 
Thus,  sweet  means,  as  the  lexicons  state,  unfermented 
wine. 

^Kitto,  ii.  955,  says :  "  Gleukos,  must,  in  common  usage, 
sweet  or  new  wine.  It  only  occurs  once  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament (Acts  ii.  13).  Josephus  applies  the  term  to  the 
wine  represented  as  being  pressed  out  of  the  bunch  of 
grapes  by  the  Archi-oino-choos  into  the  cup  of  the  royal 
Pharaoh."  Professor  C.  Anthon  says :  "  The  sweet,  un- 
fermented juice  of  the  grape  is  termed  gleukos" 

Smith,  in  his  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,  says, 
"  The  sweet,  unfermented  juice  of  the  grape  was  termed 
glukos  by  the  Greeks,  and  mustum  by  the  Romans ;  the 
latter  word  being  properly  an  adjectiv.e,  signifying  new 
or  fresh." 

Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  on  Acts  ii.  13,  remarks :  "  New 
wine  (glukos) — this  word  properly  means  the  juice  of 
the  grape  which  distils  before  a  pressure  is  applied,  and 
called  must.  It  was  sweet  wine,  and  hence  the  word  in 
Greek  meaning  sweet  was  given  to  it.  The  ancients,  it 


THE    WINES    OP   THE    ANCIENTS.  91 

is  said,  had  the  art  of  preserving  their  new  wine,  with 
the  peculiar  flavor  before  fermentation,  for  a  consider- 
able time,  and  were  in  the  habit  of  drinking  it  in  the 
morning." 

Dr.  "William  Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  article 
"Wine,  says,  "'A  certain  amount  of  juice  exuded  from  the 
ripe  fruit  before  the  treading  commenced.  This  appears 
to  have  been  kept  separate  from  the  rest  of  the  juice,  and 
to  have  formed  the  sweet  wine  (glukos,  new  wine)  noticed 
in  Acts  ii.  13."  "  The  wine  was  sometimes  preserved  in 
its  unfermented  state,  and  drunk  as  must" 

It  was,  indeed,  the  most  consummate  irony  and  ef- 
frontery for  those  mockers  to  say  that  the  apostles  were 
drunk  on  gleukos,  new  wine,  and  full  as  reliable  was  the 
statement  that,  being  thus  drunk,  they  could  intelligently 
and  coherently  speak  in  a  number  of  languages  of  which, 
up  to  that  day,  they  had  been  ignorant.  Peter  denies 
the  charge,  and  fortifies  his  denial  by  the  fact  that  it  was 
only  the  third  hour  of  the  day,  answering  to  our  nine  A.M. 
This  was  the  hour  for  the  morning  sacrifice.  It  was  not 
usual  for  men  to  be  drunk  thus  early  (1  Thess.  v.  7).  It 
was  a  well-known  practice  of  the  Jews  not  to  eat  or 
drink  until  after  the  third  hour  of  the  day.  As  distilled 
spirits  were  not  known  until  the  ninth  century,  it  was 
altogether  an  improbable  thing  that  they  could  have 
thus  early  been  drunk  on  the  weak  wines  of  Palestine. 
As  the  evidence,  both  ancient  and  modern,  is  that  gleukos, 
new  wine,  was  unfermented,  and  therefore  not  intoxicat- 
ing, this  passage  testifies  in  favor  of  two  kinds  of  wine. 

Acts  xxiv.  25,  "  Reasoned  of  temperance."  "  The  Eng- 
lish word  temperance"  says  Bib.  Com.^  p.  317,  "  is 
derived  directly  from  the  Latin  temperantia,  the  root 
of  which  is  found  in  the  Greek  temo,  temno,  tempo,  to 


92  THE    LAWS    OF    FERMENTATION',    AND 

cut  off.  Hence  temperardia  (temperance),  as  a  virtue,  is 
the  cutting-off  of  that  which  ought  not  to  be  retained — 
self-restraint  from,  not  in,  the  use  of  whatever  is  perni- 
cious, useless,  or  dangerous."  There  is  nothing  in  this 
text,  or  its  surroundings,  which  intimates  that  Paul  aimed 
to  persuade  Felix  to  become  a  moderate  drinker.  The  case 
was  more  urgent  and  momentous.  This  Roman  gov- 
ernor of  Judea  was  a  licentious  man,  then  living  in  open 
adultery ;  he  was  an  unjust  magistrate,  and  reckless  of 
all  retribution  except  that  of  Caesar.  Paul,  therefore, 
so  probed  his  conscience  with  his  reasonings  upon  right- 
eousness, self-control,  and  responsibility  to  God,  his  Cre- 
ator and  final  Judge,  that  he  trembled. 

Horn.  xiii.  13,  "  Drunkenness."  The  Greek  word  methee 
means  drunkenness.  This  was  common  in  Rome,  and 
Paul  wisely  exhorted  the  Christians  there  to  avoid  it. 
There  is,  it  will  be  noticed,  the  same  prohibition  of  riot- 
ing, chambering,  and  wantonness,  as  of  drunkenness. 
The  argument  which  uses  this  text  in  favor  of  moderate 
drinking  is  equally  good  in  favor  of  moderate  rioting, 
and  chambering,  and  wantonness,  and  strife,  and  envy- 
ings.  All  agree  that  in  these  total  abstinence  is  the  only 
safe  and  Christian  course,  and  why  not  equally  so  in  the 
matter  of  drunkenness?  The  best  and  surest  way  to 
avoid  drunkenness  is  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  alco- 
holic drinks,  which  produces  it,  especially  as  all  drunk- 
ards are  only  made  out  of  moderate  drinkers. 

.     STUMBLING-BLOCKS. 

Rom.  xiv.  13,  "But  judge  this  rather,  that  no  man  put 
a  stumbling-block,  or  an  occasion  to  fall,  in  his  brother's 
way."  TAVO  words  demand  examination. 


THE    AVIXES    OF   THE    AXCTENTS.  93 

1.  Proskomma,  which  Donnegan  renders,  "Stumble, 
a  trip  or  false  step,  an  obstacle,  an  impediment ;  in  gene- 
ral, a  hindrance." — New  Testament  Lexicon.     Metaphor- 
ically, "stumbling-block,  an  occasion  of  sinning,  means 
of  inducing  to  sin." — Rom.  xiv.  13  and  1  Cor.  viii.  9. 

2.  Skandahn.     Donnegan,  "  Cause  of  offence  or  scan- 
dal."— New  Testament  Lexicon.     "  Cause  or  occasion  of 
sinning." 

In  the  context,  Paul  dissuades  from  judging  one 
another  concerning  clean  and.  unclean  meats  (verses  3  and 
14),  as  a  matter  of  comparatively  small  moment.  But  he 
urges,  as  a  most  momentous  matter,  that  Christians  should 
so  regulate  all  their  conduct,  socially  and  religiously,  as 
not  to  put  a  stumbling-block,  or  an  occasion  to  fall,  in  the 
way  of  his  brother.  Thus  he  establishes  a  principle  of 
action  universally  binding  in  all  ages  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances. This  compels  every  Christian  disciple  pray- 
erfully to  ponder  this  question,  Do  the  social  drinking 
usages  of  the  present  time  put  a  stumbling-block,  or  an 
occasion  to  fall,  in  the  way  f 

No  one  will  maintain,  however  social  they  may  be,  that 
they  are  the  means  of  grace,  or  that  they  promote  spiri- 
tuality. It  must,  on  the  other  hand,  be  admitted  that  they 
do  circumscribe  the  usefulness  of  all,  and  seriously  injure 
the  spirituality  of  many.  No  one  who  uses  alcoholic 
drinks,  and  furnishes  them  to  his  guests,  can  say  they  do 
him  no  injury.  He  is  not  a  reliable  judge  in  his  own 
case.  Others  see  and  deplore  the  decline  of  spirituality 
and  the  increased  power  of  worldliness  which  he  makes 
evident. 

The  point  particularly  to  be  regarded  is  the  influence 
exerted  upon  those  invited  to  your  festive  gatherings,  and 
to  whom  you  offer  the  intoxicating  drinks,  even  so  press- 


94  THE   LAWS    OF  FEE  MENTATION,   AND 

ing  them  as  to  overcome  reluctance,  and  perhaps  con- 
scientious convictions.  Do  you  not  thus  put  a  stumbling- 
block,  an  impediment,  an  hindrance,  in  the  way  of  the 
Christian  usefulness  and  spiritual  progress  of  your  brother 
—perhaps  younger  in  years,  and  in  the  church,  than  your- 
self ?  Do  not  these  prove  a  cause  of  offence  and  of  scandal, 
of  sinning  and  of  falling  ?  Where  are  many  who  once 
were  active,  exemplary  members  of  the  churches  ?  Alas  ! 
alas !  they  first  learned  to  sip  politely  at  the  fashionable 
party  given  by  a  church  member,  and  by  sipping  acquired 
the  appetite  which  led  on  to  drunkenness  and  the  drunk- 
ard's grave.  We  can  all  recall  mournful  illustrations. 

As  others  may  not  have  the  same  cold  temperament  or 
self-control  as  yourself,  your  example  is  terrific  upon  the 
ardent  temperament  of  the  young.  For  their  sakes,  the 
apostolic  command  binds  you  to  take  this  stumbling-block, 
this  hindrance,  this  occasion  to  sin  and  to  fall,  out  of  the 
way  of  your  brother.  (See  Rom.  xiv.  17  and  xv.  1-3.) 

We  should  never  forget  what  our  Lord  has  said,  Matt, 
xviii.  7,  "  Woe  to  the  man  by  whom  the  offence  cometh !  " 
Luke  xvii.  1,  "  But  woe  unto  him  through  whom  they 
[offences]  come !  It  were  better  for  him  that  a  millstone 
were  hanged  about  his  neck,  and  he  cast-  into  the  sea, 
than  that  he  should  offend  [cause  to  stumble  or  fall]  one 
of  these  little  ones." 

I  can  hardly  believe  that  this  subject  has  been  seriously 
and  prayerfully  pondered  by  those  Christian  professors 
who  habitually  spread  intoxicating  drinks  before  their 
guests,  especially  at  evening  entertainments,  where  the 
young  and  unsuspecting  are  convened. 

The  great  barrier  which  blocks  the  temperance  reform 
is  not  found  among  the  drunkards  nor  in  the  grog-shops, 
but  in  the  circles  of  fashion.  So  long  as  these  drinks 


THE   WINES   OF   THE   ANCIENTS.  95 

are  found  in  the  fashionable  parties  and  defended  as  the 
good  creatures  of  God,  so  long  the  masses  will  be  so  influ- 
enced as  to  be  swept  along  with  this  fearful  tide. 


EXPEDIENCY. 

Kom.  xiv.  14-21,  "  Neither  eat  flesh  nor  drink  wine," 
etc.  Expediency  necessarily  admits  the  lawfulness  and 
propriety  of  the  use  of  alcoholic  drinks,  but  that,  by 
reason  of  the  evils  which  come  from  the  excessive  use, 
men  should  totally  abstain.  This  does  not  include  the 
idea  of  personal  danger.  It  rather  assumes  it  as  a  cer- 
tainty that  the  abstainer  can  so  use  them  as  never  to 
exceed  the  boundaries  of  prudence.  But  because  of 
others,  not  so  firm  of  nerve,  or  resolute  of  purpose  or 
power  of  self-government,  we  should  abstain  in  order  to 
strengthen,  encourage,  and  save  them.  In  this  view,  they 
feel  fortified  by  the  noble  decision  of  the  Apostle  Paul, 
"  Wherefore,  if  meat  make  my  brother  to  offend,  I  will 
eat  no  flesh  while  the  world  standeth,  lest  I  make  my 
brother  to  oifend."  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  he 
speaks  of  those  converted  from  Judaism,  but  who  still 
felt  bound  to  observe  the  ceremonial  law.  Other  con-- 
verts, satisfied  that  this  law  was  abolished,  consequently 
made  no  distinction  in  meats.  The  former  were  offended 
by  the  practice  of  the  latter.  To  meet  this  case,  the 
apostle  says,  "  It  is  good  neither  to  eat  flesh  nor  drink 
wine,  nor  anything  whereby  thy  brother  stumbleth,  or  is 
offended,  or  is  made  weak." 

To  the  Corinthians,  1,  viii.  4-13,  he  speaks  of  those 
recently  converted  from  idolatry,  and  who  were  troubled 
about  the  lawfulness  of  eating  meats  which  had  been 
offered  to  idols  and  then  sold  in  the  markets.  Whilst  he 


96  THE   LAWS    OF   FEB1LEXTATIOX,    AND 

argues  that  the  meat  cannot  be  thus  polluted,  still,  as 
"  there  is  not  in  every  man  that  knowledge,"  and  as  their 
wean  consciences  would  be  defiled,  he  admonishes  those 
who  were  enlightened  "  to  take  heed  lest  by  any  means 
this  liberty  of  yours  becomes  a  stumbling-block  to  them 
that  are  weak."  lie  presents  the  subject  in  the  most 
solemn  and  impressive  manner,  saying,  '"'  When  ye  sin  so 
against  the  brethren,  and  wound  their  weak  conscience, 
ye  sin  against  Christ."  The  practical  and  benevolent 
conclusion  to  which  he  comes  is,  "If  meat  make  my 
brother  to  offend,  I  will  eat  no  flesh  while  the  world 
standeth,  lest  I  make  my  brother  to  offend." 

Thus,  in  two  applications,  the  doctrine  of  expediency 
is  fully  stated.  It  is  necessarily  based  upon  the  lawful- 
ness of  the  usage,  and  the  rightfulness  of  our  liberty  in 
the  premises.  1  Cor.  x.  23,  "  All  things  are  lawful  unto 
me,  but  all  things  are  not  expedient :  all  things  are  law- 
ful for  me,  but  I  will  not  be  brought  under  the  power 
of  any.''  With  Paul,  expediency  was  not  the  balancing 
of  evils,  nor  the  selfish  defence  of  a  doubtful  usage ;  but 
the  law  of  benevolence,  so  controlling  and  circumscribing 
his  liberty  as  to  prevent  any  injury  to  the  conscience  of 
another.  u  Even  as  I  please  alt  men  in  all  things,  not 
seeking  mine  own  profit,  but  the  profit  of  many,  that  they 
may  be  saved." — 1  Cor.  x.  33. 

The  abstinence  to  which  Paul  alludes  was  lest  the 
weak  conscience  of  a  brother  should  be  wounded. 
This  is  not  the  precise  use  of  the  principle  in  its 
application  to  temperance ;  for  those  who  drink  do  not 
plead  conscience,  and  those  who  abstain  do  not  abstain 
because  for  them  to  drink  would  wound  the  consciences 
of  the  drinkers.  So  far  from  this,  our  drinking  quiets 
and  encourages  their  consciences.  Ko  one  can  study 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  97 

this  argument  of  the  apostle,  and  his  farther  state- 
ment in  1  Cor.  ix.  19-23,  and  fail  to  feel  its  benevolent 
and  constraining  power.  It  evolves  a  principle  of  action 
which  we  are  bound  to  recognize  and  apply  to  the  neces- 
sities of  our  fellow-men.  It  demands  that  we  should 
deny  ourselves  for  the  purpose  of  doing  good  to  others 
who  are  exposed  to  evil.  It  is  the  giving  up  of  the  use 
of  alcoholic  drinks  to  recover  others  from  ruin,  and  to 
save  more  from  taking  the  first  step  on  the  road  to  .drunk- 
enness. 

"Whilst  I  fully  admit  the  doctrine  of  expediency,  as  laid 
down  by  the  apostle,  1  am  not  quite  sure  that  the  use 
which  is  generally  made  of  it  for  the  cause  of  temperance 
may  not  be  turned  against  us.  I  am  not  certain  that,  as 
generally  expounded,  it  does  not  reflect  most  fearfully, 
though  undesignedly,  upon  the  benevolence  of  the 
patriarchs,  prophets,  the  apostles,  and  even  of  the  blessed 
Lord  our  Saviour. 

I  do  not  for  a  moment  imagine,  much  less  believe,  that 
the  advocates  of  only  alcoholic  wines  intend  to  damage 
the  benevolence  of  the  divine  Saviour.  Yet,  when  they 
strenuously  claim  that  he  not  only  personally  drank  in- 
toxicating wine,  but  made  a  large  quantity  of  it  for  the 
wedding-guests,  they  throw  shadows  over  his  benevo- 
lence ;  for  he,  better  than  all  others,  knew  the  seductive 
and  destructive  influence  of  alcoholic  drinks,  as  he  could 
not  only  look  back  through  all  the  ages  past,  but  also  down 
through  all  the  ages  to  come,  and  tell  the  myriads  upon 
myriads  who  by  them  would  be  made  drunkards  and  fail 
of  heaven ;  as  he,  better  than  all  others,  understood  the 
law  of  benevolence,  and  knew  how  to  practise  self-denial 
for  the  good  of  others.  But  we  hear  not  one  word  from 
him  about  expediency.  What  possible  claim,  then,  can 


98  THE   LAWS    OP   FERMENTATION,    AND 

this  doctrine  have  upon  his  followers,  if  he,  with  all  his 
wonderfully  accurate  knowledge,  not  only  did  not  prac- 
tise it,  but  did  the  reverse,  and  gave  the  full  force  of  his 
personal  example  for  the  beverage  use  of  inebriating 
wines — nay,  more,  actually  employed  his  divine  power 
in  making,  for  a  festive  occasion,  a  large  quantity  of  in- 
toxicating wine  ?  Such  is  the  fearful  position  in  which 
these  alcoholic  advocates  logically,  though  unwittingly, 
place  their  blessed  Lord  and  ours.  But  there  is  no  neces- 
sity for  this  dilemma,  or  for  the  encouragement  it  gives  to 
the  enemies  of  temperance.  The  view  we  have  taken,  and, 
as  we  trust,  proved,  satisfactorily  explains  why  neither  the 
patriarchs  nor  the  prophets,  why  neither  Christ  nor  his 
-apostles,  had  any  occasion  to  adopt  the  doctrine,  of  expe- 
diency in  its  application  to  alcoholic  drinks. 

The  grapes  of  Palestine  being  very  sweet,  and  the  cli- 
mate at  the  vintage  season  very  hot,  by  the  law  of  fer- 
mentation the  juice  would  speedily  become  sour  unless 
preserved  by  methods  which  prevented  all  fermentation. 
Having  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  wine  Christ  drank, 
and  which  he  made  for  the  wedding,  was  the  pure  "  blood 
of  the  grapes,"  his  example  gave  no  sanction  to  others 
who  used  intoxicating  wines. 

We  all  are  aware  that  there  are  many  thousands  of 
intelligent  Christians  who  have  never  yet  felt  themselves 
bound  by  the  argument  for  expediency.  They  find  in  it 
no  authority,  and  it  does  not  bind  their  conscience.  They 
seize  upon  the  inevitable  fact  that  expediency  implies  the 
lawfulness  and  propriety  of  the  beverage  use  of  alcoholic 
drinks,  and  ask,  "  Why  is  my  liberty  judged  by  another 
man's  conscience  ?  "  There  are  many  who  seriously  doubt 
whether  the  reformation  can  be  completed  whilst  such 
persons  of  intelligence  and  influence  are  in  the  way. 


THE   WINES    OF   THE   AXCIENTS.  99 

At  the  present  time,  when  there  are  only  alcoholic 
wines  in  the  walks  of  commerce,  and  there  is  not  the 
choice  which,  we  believe,  obtained  in  the  days  of  Christ, 
and  as  these  alcoholic  beverages  are  doing  wild  havoc 
among  men,  we  fully  recognize  the  law  of  benevolence 
as  a  divine  law,  and  as  binding  upon  every  individual. 
"We  hold  that  this  law  demands  that  we  practise  total 
abstinence,  not  simply  for  our  own  personal  safety  or 
that  of  our  family,  but  especially  for  the  good  of  others, 
that  they  may  be  rescued  from  the  way  of  the  destroyer,  or, 
what  is  better,  effectually  prevented  from  taking  the  first 
step  in  this  road  to  perdition.  "We,  then,  that  are  strong, 
ought  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak  and  not  please 
ourselves.  Let  every  one  of  us  please  his  neighbor  for 
his  good  to  edification.  For  even  Christ  pleased  not 
himself;  but,  as  it  is  written,  "the  reproaches  of  them 
that  reproached  thee  fell  on  me." — Rom.  xv.  1-3. 

1  Cor.  vi.  9-11,  "  Covetous  nor  drunkards."  It  will 
be  noticed  that  drunkards  are  here  classed  with  fornica- 
tors,  adulterers,  effeminate,  thieves,  covetous,  etc.,  all  of 
whom,  continuing  such,  "  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom 
of  God."  Total  abstinence  from  all  these  is  a  necessity. 
So  long  as  mere  moderation  in  them  is  concerned,  there 
is  no  hope  of  reformation ;  nay,  so  long  as  any  participa- 
tion in  them  is  concerned,  there  is  no  salvation.  The 
moderate  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  is  unsafe ;  for  strong 
men,  in  all  stations  of  life,  have  fallen,  and  died  drunk- 
ards, and  many  are  following  on.  Total  abstinence  is  the 
scriptural  doctrine  for  all,  and  from  all  the  practices 
which  expose  men  to  the  sins  which  shut  them  out  of 
heaven.  Christ  taught  "lead  us  not  into  temptation," 
and  Paul  exhorts  "  that  no  man  put  a  stumbling-block,  or 
an  occasion  to  fall,  in  his  brother's  way." 


100         THE  LAWS  OF  FERMENTATION,  AND 

1  Cor.  vi.  12,  "  All  things  lawful,  etc.,  not  expedient/' 
See  Kom.  xiv.  14-21.  • 

1  Cor.  viii.  4-13,  "Meat  made  to  offend,"  etc.  See 
Rom.  xiv.  14-21. 

1  Con  x.  22-30,  "  Sold  in  shambles,  eat,"  etc.  Sec 
Rom.  xiv.  14-21. 

ICor.  ix.  25,  "  Temperate."  The  Greek  word  enkmtla  is 
byDonnegan  rendered  "self-command,  self-control,  tem- 
perance, mastery  over  the  passions ; "  Robinson  and  others, 
N.  T.  Lexicons,  "self-control,  continence,  temperance." 
See  Acts  xxiv.  25,  Gal.  v.  23,  and  2  Pet.  i.  6,  iv.  5.  In 
the  text,  it  is  the  power  of  self-control,  or  continence,  as 
one  striving  for  the  mastery.  Dr.  Whitby  says,  "  Observ- 
ing a  strict  abstinence."  Dr.  Bloomfield,  "  extreme  tem- 
perance and  even  abstinence."  Horace  says  of  the  com- 
petitor for  the  Olympic  games,  "  He  abstains  from  Yenus 
and  Bacchus."  Dr.  Clarke  states  that  the  regimen  in- 
cluded both  quantity  and  quality,  carefully  abstaining 
from  all  things  that  might  render  them  less  able  for  the 
combat.  The  best  modern  trainers  prohibit  the  use  of 
beer,  wine,  and  spirits.  The  apostle,  having  thus  illustra- 
ted, by  reference  to  the  competitors  of  the  Olympic  games, 
his  idea  of  temperance,  to  wit,  total  abstinence,  adds,  as  an 
encouragement,  "  They  do  it  to  obtain  a  corruptible  crown, 
but  we  an  incorruptible."  Here  is  no  warrant  for  mode- 
rate drinking,  or  for  those  fashionable  circles  of  festivity 
where  the  sparkling  wines  sear  the  conscience,  deaden 
spirituality,  and  unfit  the  Christian  professor  for  that  con- 
flict with  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  the  tri-partite 
alliance  which  he  must  overcome,  or  for  ever  perish.  See 
Gal.  v.  19-23,  and  notes  on  Acts  xxiv.  25. 

1  Cor.  xi.  20-34,  "  Hungry  and  drunken."  "  Metfiuei, 
drunken,  being  used  as  antithetical  to  peinay  hungry,  re- 


THE   WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  101 

quires  to  be  understood  in  the  generic  sense  of  satiated, 
and  not  in  the  restricted  and  emphatic  sense  of  intoxicated. 
That  St.  Paul  should  thus  have  employed  it  is  in  harmony 
with  the  fact  that  he  was  familiar  with  the  LXX.  transla- 
tion of  the  O.  T.,  where  such  &  use  of  the  word  frequently 
occurs.  Gen.  xliii.  34,  < Drank  and  were  merry;'  Ps. 
xxiii.  5,  'Cup  runneth  over  ;  '  Ps.  xxxvi.  8,  c  Abundantly 
satisfied  with  the  fatness  of  thy  house ; '  Ps.  Ixv.  10, '  Set- 
tlest  the  furrows,5  i.e.,  saturate  ;  Jer.  xxxi.  14,  *  /Satiate 
the  soul  of  my  priests  with  fatness ; '  Cant.  v.  1,  "  Drink 
abundantly  or  be  satiated ; '  Prov.  v.  19,  <  Let  her  breasts 
satisfy  thee.'  A  large  collection  of  such  texts,  illustra- 
ing  the  usage  of  methud,  will  be  found  in  the  works  of 
Dr.  Lees,  vol.  ii,  showing  its  application  to  food,  to  milk, 
to  water,  to  blood,  to  oil,  as  well  as  to  wine. — Bib.  Coin. 
p.  340. 

Archbishop  ISTewcome,  on  John  ii.  10  and  1  Cor.  xi. 
21,  says,  "  The  word  methuei  does  not  necessarily  denote 
drunkenness.  The  word  may  denote  abundance  without 
excess." 

Bloom-field,  in  loco,  says,  "  It  is  rightly  remarked  by 
the  ancient  commentators  that  the  ratio  oppositi  requires 
the  word  to  be  interpreted  only  of  satiety  in  both  drink- 
ing and  eating.  We  need  not  suppose  any  drunkenness 
or  gluttony.  See  Notes  on  John  ii.  10.  The  fault  with 
which  they  are  charged  is  sensuality  and  selfishness  at  a 
meal  united  with  the  eucharistical  feast." — Vol.  ii.  p.  143. 

Donnegan  defines  methud,  "  to  drink  unmixed  wine,  to 
drink  wine  especially  at  festivals ;  to  be  intoxicated ;  to 
drink  to  excess."  Robinson,  "  to  be  drunk ;  to  get  drunk ; 
hence,  to  carouse."  Green,  "  to  be  intoxicated." 

We  have  thus  given  a  sample  of  the  authorities  on  the 
use  of  this  Greek  word.  It  must  be  plain  that  the  criti- 


102 

cal  students  of  the  !N"ew  Testament  are  not  all  of  the 
opinion  that  the  Corinthian  brethren  were  guilty  of 
drunkenness.  Admitting  that  the  word,  in  this  particular 
place,  means  to  be  intoxicated,  it  proves  that  there  were 
inebriating  drinks,  which  no  one  denies,  but  it  cannot 
prove  that  these  were  the  only  kind  then  used,  especially 
as  the  word  has  a  generic  character  and  a  large  applica- 
tion. 

The  facts  of  the  case  are  instructive.  These  converts 
from  idolatry,  mistaking  the  Lord's  Supper  for  a  feast, 
easily  fell  into  their  former  idolatrous  practices.  The  rich 
brought  plentifully  of  their  viands,  and  gave  themselves 
selfishly  to  festivity.  The  poor,  unable  thus  to  provide, 
were  a  body  by  themselves,  and  w^ere  left  to  go  hungry. 
This  discrimination  between  the  rich  and  the  poor  was  "  a 
despising  of  the  house  of  God,"  and  was  an  unchristian 
act,  which  the  apostle  condemned.  It  is  not  stated  that 
all  the  members  were  drunken,  for  the  narrative  expressly 
says,  "  One  is  hungry,  and  another  is  drunken,"  which 
clearly  indicates  that  a  portion  were  not  drunken.  As 
the  poor  are  generally  the  majority  in  churches,  the  strong 
probability  is  that  a  minority  only  were  offenders  in  pros- 
tituting the  ordinance  and  in  the  matter  of  drinking.  Jf 
an  intoxicating  wine  was  used  on  this  occasion  by  the  rich 
church  members  when  they  turned  the  Lord's  Supper  into 
a  common  festive  occasion,  it  furnishes  no  evidence  that 
such  wine  was  the  proper  element  for  the  Scriptural  cele- 
bration of  that  ordinance.  Paul  re-enacted  the  Supper  as 
originally  instituted,  and  restored  it  to  its  proper  celebra- 
tion. It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  he  says,  x.  16,  "  The 
cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion 
of  the  blood  of  Christ ;  the  bread  which  we  break,  is  it 
not  the  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ  ?  Ye  cannot 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  103 

drink  the  cup  of  the  Lord  and  the  cup  of  devils.  Ye 
cannot  be  partakers  of  the  Lord's  table  and  the  table  of 
devils."  The  contrast  between  the  tables  and  the  cups  is 
apostolic  and  instructive.  Their  table  and  the  cup  they 
used  were  the  devil's.  The  proper  table  and  the  propei 
cup  were  the  Lord's.  If  their  cup  contained  that  which 
was  intoxicating,  it  was,  as  Paul  declares,  the  devil's  cup ; 
but  the  cup  which  contained  that  which  was  the  opposite, 
and  was  not  intoxicating,  was,  as  the  apostle  teaches,  the 
Lord's  cup,  the  cup  of  blessing. 

Gal.  v.  19-24,  "  Drunkenness  and  temperance."  The 
Apostle  Paul  draws  a  striking  contrast  between  the  works 
of  the  flesh  and  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit.  Of  the  former  he 
says,  "  Now  the  works  of  the  flesh  are  manifest,  which  are 
these :  adultery,  fornication,  uncleanness,  lasciviousness, 
idolatry,  witchcraft,  hatred,  variance,  emulations,  wrath, 
strife,  seditions,  heresies,  envyirigs,  murders,  drunkenness, 
revellings,  and  such  like ;  of  the  which  I  tell  you  before, 
as  I  have  also  told  you  in  time  past,  that  they  which  do 
such  things  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Of  the  latter  he  says,  in  immediate  connection  and  con- 
trast, "  But  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long- 
suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  tempe- 
rance :  against  such  there  is  no  law.  And  they  that  are 
Christ's  have  crucified  the  flesh  with  the  affections  and 
lusts."  Temperance,  which  is  self-restraint  from,  and  not 
in,  the  use  of  whatever  is  injurious,  is  here  placed  in  op- 
position to  drunkenness.  To  be  safe — abstain.  See  Notes 
on  Acts  xxiv.  25  and  1  Cor.  ix.  25. 

Eph  v.  18,  "  Be  not  drunk  with  wine,  wherein  is  ex- 
cess ;  but  be  filled  with  the  Spirit."  In  this  place,  oinos 
most  probably  designates  an  intoxicating  liquor.  The 
word  translated  excess  is  asotia,  literally  wisavableness. 


104  THE    LAWS    OP   FERMENTATION,    AND 

It  is  a  word  compounded  of  a,  privative  or  negative,  and 
suso,  to  save,  and  thus  defined  by  the  lexicon,  "  The  dispo- 
sition and  the  life  of  one  who  is  asdtos,  abandoned,  reck- 
lessly debauched,  profligacy,  dissoluteness,  debauchery." 
Eph.  v.  18 ;  Tit.  i.  C  ;  1  Pet.  iv.  4=. 

The  apostle  here  contrasts  inebriating  wine  and  the 
Holy  Spirit.  He  warns  men  against  the  wine,  and  exhorts 
them  to  be  filled  with  the  Spirit.  "  He  presents  a  practi- 
cal antithesis  between  fulness  of  wine  and  fulness  of  the 
Divine  Spirit ;  not  an  antithesis  between  one  state  of  fulness 
and  another — mere  effects — but  an  antithesis  pointing  to 
an  intrinsic  contrariety  of  nature  and  operation,  between 
the  sources  of  such  fulness,  viz.,  inebriating  wine  and  the 
Holy  Spirit." — Bib.  Com.  p.  353.  The  excess  does  not, 
then,  so  much  apply  to  the  quantity  of  wine  used  as  to  the 
mental  and  moral  condition  of  the  person ;  since  the  word 
asotia  denotes  such  entire  dissoluteness  of  mind  and  heart 
as  to  forbid  the  hope  of  salvation. 

The  apostle  properly  warns  the  Ephesian  converts 
against  the  feasts  of  Bacchus,  where  the  votaries  were 
made  mad  by  wine  and  debauching  songs ;  but,  in  con- 
trast, exhorts  them  to  be  filled  with  the  Spirit ;  and,  in- 
stead of  the  noisy,  silly  talk  and  songs  of  the  bacchanalians, 
to  manifest  their  joy  and  happiness  in  psalms  and  hymns 
and  spiritual  songs,  thus  making  melody  in  their  hearts 
unto  the  Lord. 

Olshausen,  referring  to  Luke  i.  15,  thus  comments: 
"  Man  feels  the  want  of  a  strengthening  through  spiritual 
influences  from  without ;  instead  of  seeking  for  these  in 
the  Holy  Spirit,  he,  in  his  blindness,  has  recourse  to  the 
natural  spirit,  that  is,  to  wine  and  strong  drinks.  There- 
fore, according  to  the  point  of  view  of  the  Law,  the  Old 
Testament  recommends  abstinence. from  wine  and  strong 


THE    WINES    OP   THE   ANCIENTS.^  105 

drinks,  in  order  to  preserve  the  soul  free  from  all  merely 
natural  influences,  and  by  that  means  to  make  it  more 
susceptible  of  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

The  soul  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit  will  not  crave  an 
intoxicating  beverage  to  cheer  and  enliven. 

Phil.  iv.  5,  "Let  your  moderation  be  known  unto  all 
men.  The  Lord  is  at  hand."  There  is  not  the  slightest 
evidence,  either  from  the  original  word  or  the  context, 
that  this  text  has  the  remotest  reference  to  moderate 
drinking.  The  Greek  word  epieikees  occurs  five  times : 
thrice  it  is  rendered  gentle,  once  patient,  and  once  mode- 
ration. In  each  case,  reference  is  made  to  the  state  of  the 
mind,  and  it  might  be  properly  translated,  Let  your  mode- 
ration of  mind  be  known  unto  all  men.  Kobinson  renders 
it  meet,  suitable,  proper.  The  reason  given  for  moderation 
is,  "  The  Lord  is  at  hand."  How  strange  to  say  to  the 
drinkers,  Drink  moderately,  for  the  Lord  is  at  hand  !  But 
to  the  Christians  at  Philippi,  then  suffering  persecutions, 
the  exhortation  had  point :  Let  your  moderation — that  is, 
your  patience,  gentleness,  mildness,  propriety — be  known 
to  all  men,  as  a  testimony  in  favor  of  Christianity.  The 
Lord  is  at  hand  is  a  motive  of  encouragement. 

Col.  ii.  16,  "Let  no  man,  therefore,  judge  you  in  meat 
or  drink,"  etc. 

This  has  no  reference  to  a  distinction  of  drinks  as  fer- 
mented or  unfermented,  dangerous  or  safe,  but  to  those  re- 
garded as  clean  or  unclean.  That  is,  proper  according  to 
the  Jewish  law,  for  the  context  names  holy  days,  new  moon, 
and  Sabbath-days.  The  point  is  here — since  this  law  has 
fulfilled  its  mission  and  ceased,  therefore  use  your  Chris- 
tian liberty,  and  no  man  must  be  allowed  to  condemn 
you  for  not  now  conforming  to  the  requirements  of  that 
abrogated  law. 


106          THE  LAWS  OF  FERMENTATION,  AND 

1  Tliess.  v.  7,  "  They  that  be  drunken  are  drunken  in 
the  night."  This  simply  states  a  fact  in  that  age,  but  im- 
plies no  approbation  of  intoxicating  drinks.  The  ancient 
heathen  regarded  being  drunk  in  the  daytime  as  indecent. 
In  contrast  with  the  stupidity,  sensuality,  and  darkness 
in  which  the  heathen  lived,  the  exhortation  to  the  Chris- 
tians who  are  of  the  day  is  to  be  sober.  The  Greek  word 
is  nee-pkomen,  from  neephoo,  which  occurs  six  times,  and 
is  four  times  rendered  sober,  and  twice  watch.  The  idea 
of  vigilant  circumspection  and  abstinence  is  impressed  by 
all  the  context.  The  classical  lexicon  defines  neplio  by — 
" sobrius  sum,  mgilo,  non  ~bib" — to  be  sober,  vigilant, 
not  to  drink.  Donnegan,  "  To  live  abstemiously,  to  ab- 
stain from  wine ; "  metaphorically,  "  to  be  sober,  discreet, 
wise,  circumspect,  or  provident,  to  act  with  prudence." 
Robinson's  New  Testament  Lexicon,  "  To  be  sober,  tem- 
perate, abstinent,  especially  in  respect  of  wine."  This 
sobriety  is  associated  with  putting  on  the  Christian  armor, 
and  it  is  the  call  for  vigilant  wakefulness,  having  all  the 
powers  of  mind  and  body  in  proper  condition. 

1  Timothy  iii.  2,  3,  "  Not  given  to  wine."  The  Apostle 
Paul,  in  this  first  letter  to  Timothy,  whom  he  calls  his 
"  own  son  in  the  faith,"  names  thirteen  qualifications  for 
a  bishop  or  pastor.  "  A  bishop,  then,  must  be  blameless, 
the  husband  of  one  wife,  vigilant,  sober,  of  good  behavior, 
given  to  hospitality,  apt  to  teach ;  not  given  to  wine,  no 
striker,  not  greedy  of  filthy  lucre ;  but  patient,  not  a 
brawler,  not  covetous."  The  language  is  imperative, 
"  Must  be  • "  thus  designating  that  these  qualifications 
are  indispensable.  He  spake  with  authority,  being  in- 
spired of  God. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  examine  each  of  these  thirteen, 
but  to  call  attention  to  three  of  them,  as  bearing  particu- 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  107 

""• 

larly  on  the  duty  of  abstinence.  In  the  Authorized  Version, 
we  read,  te  Vigilant,  sober,  not  given  to  wine"  That  we 
may  the  more  perfectly  understand  the  meaning  of  these, 
we  must  look  at  the  original  Greek  words  used  by  the 
apostle. 

Vigilant.^—  The  Greek  is  neephalion^-  which  Donne- 
gan's  Lexicon  renders  "abstemious;  that  abstains,  espe- 
cially from  wine"  Hence,  "  sober,  discreet,  circumspect, 
cautious."  Robinson's  New  Testament  Lexicon  defines 
the  word,  "Sober,  temperate,  especially  in  respect  to 
wine"  In  E".  T.,  trop.,  "  sober-minded,  watchful,  cir- 
cumspect." In  the  adjective  form,  the  word  occurs  only 
in  1  Tim.  iii.  2,  11,  and  Tit.  ii.  2,  from  the  verb  necpho, 
which  Donnegan  defines,  "  To  live  abstemiously,  to  abstain 
from  wine."  Green's  New  Testament  Lexicon,  "  To  be 
sober,  not  intoxicated ;  metaphorically,  to  be  vigilant, 
circumspect." 

Sober. — The  Greek  is  sopJirona.  Donnegan,  "  That  is, 
of  sound  mind  and  good  understanding ;  sound  in  intel- 
lect, not  deranged ;  intelligent,  discreet,  prudent,  or  wise." 
Green,  "  Sound ;  of  a  sound  mind,  sane,  staid,  temperate, 
discreet,  1  Tim.  iii.  2 ;  Tit.  i.  8 ;  ii.  3.  Modest,  chaste,  Tit. 
ii.  5."  Macknight,  "  Sound  mind ;  one  who  governs  his 
passions,  prudent."  Bloomfield,  "  Sober-minded,  or- 
derly." 

Not  given  to  wine. — The  Greek  is  mee-paroinon :  mee, 
a  negative  particle,  not  /  paroinon,compoundQd.  of  para,  a 
preposition  governing  the  genitive  (of,  from,  on  the  part 
of),  the  dative  (at,  by,  near,  with),  the  accusative  (toge- 
ther, with,  to,  towards,  by,  near,  at,  next  to) ;  and  oinos, 
wine.  Literally,  not  at,  by,  near,  or  with  wine.  This 
looks  considerably  like  total  abstinence.  It  applies  equally 
to  private  habits  and  public  conduct.  Notice  the  care- 


108  THE    LAWS    OF    FERMENTATION,    AND 

jjf 

ful  steps  of  the  progress.  He  must  be  neephalion,  ab- 
stinent, sober  in  body,  that  he  may  be  sdphrona,  sound 
in  mind,  and  that  his  influence  may  be  unimpaired,  mee- 
parion,  not  with  or  near  wine.  We  find  in  this  passage 
no  countenance  for  the  moderate  use  of  intoxicating 
wine,  but  the  reverse,  the  obligation  to  abstain  totally. 

"  Not  given  to  wine  "  is  certainly  a  very  liberal  trans- 
lation, and  shows  here  the  usages  of  the  day  unconsciously 
influenced  the  translators.  "  The  ancient  paroinos  was  a 
man  accustomed  to  attend  drinking-parties."  Thus  the 
Christian  minister  is  required  not  only  to  be  personally 
sober,  but  also  to  withhold  his  presence  and  sanction  from 
those  assemblies  where  alcoholic  drinks  are  used,  en- 
dangering the  sobriety  of  himself  and  others. 

That  both  Paul  and  Timothy  understood  that  total 
abstinence  was  an  essential  qualification  for  the  Christian 
pastor,  is  evident  from  the  compliance  of  Timothy.  In 
this  same  letter,  v.  23,  Paul  advises  Timothy,  "  Drink  no 
longer  water,  but  use  a  little  wine  for  thy  stomach's  sake 
and  thine  often  infirmities.5'  The  fact  is  plain  that  Tim- 
othy, in  strict  accordance  with  the  direction,  "  not  given 
to  wine,"  that  is,  not  with  or  near  wine,  was  a  total 
abstainer.  The  recommendation  to  "  use  a  little  wine '' 
is  exceptional,  and  strictly  medicinal.  As  there  existed 
in  the  Roman  Empire,  in  which  Timothy  travelled,  a 
variety  of  wines,  differing  from  each  other  in  character, 
we  cannot  decide,  ex  cathedra,  that  it  was  alcoholic  wine 
that  Paul  recommended.  Pliny,  Columella,  Philo,  and 
others  state  that  many  of  the  wines  of  their  day  produced 
"headaches,  dropsy,  madness,  and  stomach  complaints" 
— Natty  Lond.  Ed.  p.  96.  We  can  hardly  believe  that 
Paul  recommended  these.  Yet  these  strikingly  designate 
the  effects  of  alcoholic  wines,  The  same  writers  tell  us 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  109 

that  wines  destitute  of  all  strength  were  exceedingly 
wholesome  and  useful  to  the  body,  salubre  corporis. 
Pliny  mentions  a  wine  in  good  repute,  aduminon — :that 
is,  without  power,  without  strength.  He  particularly 
states  that  the  wines  most  adapted  to  the  sick  are  "  Util- 
issimum  vinwn  omnibus  sacco  viribus  fractis"  which 
the  alcoholic  wine  men  translate,  "  For  all  the  sick,  wine 
is  most  useful  when  its  forces  have  been  broken  by  the 
strainer."  We  do  not  object  to  this  rendering,  since  the 
wine  must  be  harmless  when  its  forces,  which  is  alcohol, 
are  broken.  The  Latin  word  fractis  is  from  frango^  to 
break  in  pieces,  to  dash  in  pieces,  which  indicates  the 
thoroughness  of  the  work  done  by  the  "  sacco,"  strainer 
or  filter.  That  the  force  which  the  filter  breaks  is  fer- 
mentation, is  evident  from  the  next  sentence  of  Pliny. 
(See  item  "  Filtration,"  on  a  preceding  page.)  Horace,  lib. 
i.  ode  17,  speaks  of  the  innoccntis  Lesbii,  innocent  Les- 
bian, which  Professor  C.  Smart  renders  "  unintoxicating." 
The  Delphin  Notes  to  Horace  say,  "  The  ancients  filtered 
their  wines  repeatedly  before  they  could  have  fermented. 
And  thus  the  faeces  which  nourish  the  strength  of  the 
wine  being  taken  away,  they  rendered  the  wine  itself  more 
liquid,  weaker,  lighter,  sweeter,  and  more  pleasant  to 
drink." 

Again,  Horace  tells  his  friend  Maecenas  to  drink  an  hun- 
dred glasses,  without  fear  of  intoxication.  (See  previous 
page  in  this  volume.) 

Athenseus  says  of  the  sweet  Lesbian,  "Let  him  take 
sweet  wine  (glulcus),  either  mixed  with  water  or  warmed, 
especially  that  called  protropos,  as  being  very  good  for  the 
stomach."— Nott,  Lond.  Ed.  p.  96,  and  Bib.  Com.  374. 

Protropos  was,  according  to  Pliny,  "  M'ustum  qiiod 
sponte  profluit  antequctm  nvce  calcentur"  "  The  must 


110  THE    LAWS   <)F    FERMENTATION,    AND 

which  flows  spontaneously  from  the  grapes." — Nott^  Lond. 
Ed.  p.  80. 

Donnegan  defines  it,  "  Wine  flowing  from  the  grapes 
before  pressure." 

Smith's  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,  "  That  which 
flowed  from  the  clusters,  in  consequence  of  their  pressure 
upon  each  other,  to  which  the  inhabitants  of  Mjtelene 
gave  the  name protropos" 

Why  not  treat  Paul  with  common  politeness,  not  to 
say  honesty,  and,  as  he  so  emphatically  required  that  a 
bishop  should  "  not  be  with  or  near  wine,"  believe  that 
when  he  recommended  Timothy  to  "  use  a  little  wine  " 
medicinally,  he  had  reference  to  such  wine  as  Pliny  says 
was  "  most  useful  for  the  sick,';  whose  "  forces  have  been 
broken  by  the  strainer,"  or  filter  ?  As  the  recommenda- 
tion was  not  for  gratification,  but  for  medicine,  to  Timothy 
personally,  a  sick  man,  and  only  a  little  at  that,  it  gives 
no  more  countenance  for  the  beverage  use  of  wine  for  any 
one,  and  especially  for  those  in  health,  than  does  the  pre- 
scription of  castor-oil  by  the  physician  for  the  beverage 
use  of  that  article. 

The  case  of  Timothy,  a  total  abstainer,  illustrates  and 
enforces  the  inspired  declaration  that  a  bishop  must  ~be 
vigilant,  that  is,  abstinent ;  sober,  that  is,  sound  in  mind ; 
and  not  given  to  wine,  that  is,  not  with  or  near  wine. 
If  all  who  are  now  in  the  sacred  office  would  follow  lite- 
rally and  faithfully  the  requirements  which  Paul  lays 
down,  "  NOT  WITH  OK  NEAR  WINE,"  the  numh-cr  of  total 
abstainers  would  be  greatly  increased,  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance would  be  essentially  promoted,  and  the  good  of 
the  community  permanently  secured;  for,  according  to 
Paul,  total  abstinence  is  an  indispensable  qualification  for 
a  pastor. 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  Ill 

1  Tim.  iii.  8.,  Deacons — "  not  given  to  much.  Vine." 

This  is  held  as  evidence  not  only  that  they  might  use 
some  wine,  but  also  that  the  wine  w^as  intoxicating.  The 
Greek  word  proscko  occurs  twenty-four  times,  and  is  eight 
times  rendered  beware ;  six  times,  take  heed ;  four,  gave 
heed ;  one,  giving  heed ;  two,  gave  attendance ;  one, 
attended ;  one,  had  regard ;  one,  given  to  wine.  Robin- 
son's rendering  is,  "  to  give  or  devote  one's  self  to  any- 
thing ; "  and  other  lexicons,  "  be  addicted  to,  engage  in, 
be  occupied  with,"  as  in  1  Tim.  i.  4;  iii.  8.  The  deacons 
of  the  primitive  churches  were  converts  mostly  from  idol- 
atry, and  in  their  unconverted  state  were  accustomed  to 
voluptuousness  and  sensuality. 

In  the  previous  pages,  we  have  seen  that  those  who 
were  dissipated  and  voluptuous  preferred  the  wine  whose 
strength  had  been  broken  by  the  filter,  because  it  enabled 
them  to  drink  largely  without  becoming  intoxicated. 
They  used  various  methods  to  promote  thirst.  These 
voluptuous  drinkers  continued  at  times  all  night  at  their 
feasts.  "  Excessive  drinking,  even  of  uninebriating  drinks, 
was  a  •>  ;e  prevalent  in  the  days  of  St.  Paul,  and  corre- 
sponded, to  gluttony,  also  common — the  excessive  use 
of  food,  but  not  of  an  intoxicating  kind." — Bib.  Com. 
p.  368.  Paul  is  simply  guarding  the  deacons  against  a 
vice  of  the  day. 

Such  devotion  to  any  kind  of  wine  showed  a  voluptu- 
ousness unseemly  in  one  holding  office  in  the  church  of 
Christ.  "  To  argue  that,  forbidding  much  wine,  Paul  ap- 
proves of  the  use  of  some  wine,  and  of  any  and  every  sort, 
is  to  adopt  a  mode  of  interpretation  dangerous  and  wholly 
inconsistent  with  common  usage."  When  applied  to  the 
clause,  " '  not  greedy  of  filthy  lucre,'  it  would  sanction  all 
avarice  and  trade  craftiness  short  of  that  greed  which  is 


112  THE   LAWS    OF   FERMENTATION,    AND 

mean  and  reckless."  But  Paul,  and  other  inspired  writers, 
make  all  eovetousness  to  be  idolatry,  and  not  to  be  onco 
named,  much  less  practised  by  the  saints,  even  mode- 
rately. 

1  Tim.  iii.  11,  "  Wives,  be  sober.''  The  same  Greek 
word  is  in  verse  2  rendered  vigilant,  and  which  Donne- 
gan  renders  abstemious,  that  abstains,  especially  from 
wine.  The  N.  T.  Greek  lexicons  define  it,  "  temperate, 
abstinent  in  respect  to  wine." 

1  Tim.  iv.  4,  "Every  creature  of  God  is  good,"  etc. 
This  text  has  no  reference  to  drinks  of  any  kind,  but  is 
directly  connected  with  the  meats  named  in  verse  3,  "and 
which  some  had  forbidden  to  be  eaten.  These,  the  apos- 
tle says,  are  to  be  received  and  used,  because  they  are  the 
creatures  of  God,  and  by  him  given  for  the  good  of  man. 
The  original  word  broma  occurs  seventeen  times,  and  is 
always  rendered  meat  and  meats,  except  once,  victuals. 
Hobinson,  eatables,  food,  i.e.,  solid  food  opposed  to  milk. 
1  Cor.  iii.  2.  It  means  food  of  all  kinds  proper  to  be 
eaten.  But  alcohol  is  not  meat  in  any  sense.  It  is  not 
food ;  it  will  not  assimilate,  nor  does  it  incorporate  itself 
with  any  part  of  the  body.  Says  Dr.  Lionel  S.  Beale, 
Fhysician  to  King's  College  Hospital,  England,  "Alcohol 
does  not  act  as  food  ;  it  does  not  nourish  tissues."  Dr. 
James  Edmunds,  of  Edinburgh,  says,  "  Alcohol  is,  in  fact, 
treated  by  the  human  system  not  as  food,  but  as  an  in- 
truder and  as  a  poison" 

In  keeping  with  this  is  the  statement,  1  Sam.  xxv.  37, 
"When  the  wine  was  gone  out  of  Kabul."  This  is  sin- 
gularly accurate,  and  accords  with  the  most  approved  dis- 
coveries of  science,  viz.,  "  that  intoxication  passes  off  be- 
cause the  alcohol  goes  out  of  the  body — being  expelled 
from  it  by  all  the  excretory  organs  as  an  intruder  into 


THE    WINES    OP   THE    ANCIENTS.  113 

and  disturber  of  the  living  house  which  God  has  fearfully 
and  wonderfully  made."  Dr.  Willard  Parker,  of  New 
York,  has  used  the  same  illustration. 

The  testimony  of  Dr.  J.  W.  Beaumont,  Lecturer  on 
Materia  Medico,  in  Sheffield  Medical  School,  England, 
is,  li  Alcoholic  liquors  are  riot  nutritious,  they  are  not  a 
tonic,  they  are  not  beneficial  in  any  sense  of  the  word." 

The  original  grant  for  food  reads,  Gen.  i.  29,  "Behold, 
I  have  given  you  every  herb  bearing  seed  which  is  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth,  and  every  tree  in  the  which  is  the 
fruit  of  a  tree  yielding  seed  ;  to  you  it  shall  be  for  meat." 
Terse  31 :  "  And  God  saw  everything  that  he  had  made, 
and  behold  it  was  very  good." 

The  original  grant  extended  only  to  vegetables.  These 
were  for  meat,  literally  " for  eating"  or  that  which  is  to 
be  eaten.  Every  direct  product  of  the  earth  fit  for  food 
is  here  given  to  man.  The  design -was  to  sustain  life. 
Heiice,  whatever  will  not  assimilate  and  repair  the  waste 
is  not  food,  and  not  proper  for  the  use  of  man. 

Who  imagines,  when  the  work  of  creation  was  finished, 
that  alcohol  could  then  be  found  in  any  living  thing  fresh 
from  the  hand  of  the  Creator  ?  God,  by  his  direct  act, 
does  not  make  alcohol.  The  laws  of  nature,  if  left  to 
themselves,  do  not  produce  it.  By  these  laws,  the  grapes 
ripen ;  if  not  eaten,  they  rot  and  are  decomposed.  The 
manufacture  of  alcohol  is  wholly  man's  device.  The  asser- 
tion that  alcohol  is  in  sugar,  and  in  all  unfermented  saccha- 
rine substances  which  are  nutritious,  is  contradicted  by 
chemical  science.  The  saccharine  matter  is  nutritious, 
but  fermentation  changes  the  sugar  into  alcohol,  by  which 
process  all  the  sugar  is  destroyed,  and,  as  the  alcohol  con- 
tains no  nitrogen,  it  cannot  make  blood  or  help  to  repair 
bodily  waste.  The  testimony  of  eminent  chemists  is  verv 


114 

decided.  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  in  his  Agricultural  0/ietn- 
istry,  says  of  alcohol,  "It  has  never  been  found  ready 
formed  in  plants."  Count  Chaptal,  the  great  French 
chemist,  says,  "  Nature  never  forms  spirituous  liquors ; 
she  rots  the  grape  upon  the  branches,  but  it  is  art  which 
converts  the  juice  into  (alcoholic)  wine." 

Professor  Turner,  in  his  Chemistry,  affirms  the  non- 
natural  character  of  alcohol,  "  It  does  not  exist  ready 
formed  in  plants,  but  is  a  product  of  the  vinous  fermen- 
tation— a  process  which  must  be  initiated,  superintended, 
and,  at  a  certain  state,  arrested  by  art." — Bib.  Com. 
p.  370. 

Dr.  Henry  Morrison,  of  England,  in  his  Lecture  on 
Medical  Jurisprudence,  says,  "  Alcohol  is  nowhere  to  be 
found  in  any  product  of  nature,  was  never  created  by 
God,  but  is  essentially  an  artificial  thing  prepared  by  man 
through  the  destructive  process  of  fermentation."  * 


*  The  four  following  experiments  tell  their  own  tale : 

"  1.  One  pound  of  fully  ripe  grapes  (black  Hamburgs)  were  put 
into  a  glass  retort,  with  half  a  pint  of  water,  and  distilled  very 
slowly,  until  three  fluid-ounces  had  passed  into  the  receiver.  This 
product  had  no  alcoholic  smell.  It  was  put  into  a  small  glass 
retort,  with  an  ounce  of  fused  chloride  of  calcium,  and  distilled 
very  slowly,  till  a  quarter  fluid-ounce  was  drawn ;  this  second  educt 
had  no  sniell  of  alcohol ;  nor  was  it,  in  the  slightest  degree,  inflam- 
mable." 

"  2  and  3.  A  flask  was  filled  with  grapes,  none  of  which  had 
been  deprived  of  their  stalks,  and  it  was  inverted  in  mercury. 
Another  flask  was  filled  with  grape's  from  which  the  stalks  had 
been  pulled,  and  many  of  them  otherwise  were  bruised.  This 
flask  was  also  inverted  in  mercury.  The  flasks  were  placed,  for 
five  days,  in  a  room  of  the  average  temperature  of  about  70°. 

"  In  the  perfect  grapes  no  change  was  perceivable.  In  the  bruised 
grapes,  putrefaction  had  proceeded  to  an  extent,  in  each  grape,  pro- 


THE   WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  115 

For  the  views  -of  Professor  Liebig  on  fermentation,  see 
:( Fermentation,"  in  this  treatise. 

"  Lo,  this  have  I  found,"  saith  the  wise  man  (Ecc.  vii. 
29),  "  that  God  made  man  upright,  but  they  have  sought 
out  many  inventions." 

The  things  created  for  food,  and  which  are  to  be  received 
with  thanksgiving,  are  those  which  are  in  their  natural  and 
wholesome  condition,  and  which  nourish  and  strengthen 
the  body,  and  not  those  which  are  in  the  process  of  de- 
composition. Rotten  fruits  of  all  kinds  are  rejected  as 
innutritions  and  unwholesome.  So  also  are  decaying 
meats.  It  is  a  strange  perversion  of  all  science,  as  well 
as  of  common  sense,  to  rank  among  the  good  creatures 
of  God  alcohol,  which  is  found  in  no  living  plant,  but 
which  is  to  be  found  only  after  the  death  of  the  fruit,  and 
is  the  product  of  decomposition. 

portionate  to  the  degree  of  injury  it  had  sustained ;  the  sound  parts 
of  each  continued  unchanged." 

"4.  The  grapes  were  now  removed  from  the  flasks,  and  the  juice 
expressed  from  each.  The  juice  from  the  bruised  grapes  had  not 
an  alcoholic,  but  a  putrescent  flavor.  The  juice  from  the  sound 
grapes  was  perfectly  sweet. 

"Both  these  juices  were  placed  in  tightly  corked  phials  half- 
filled,  and  subjected  to  a  proper  fermenting  temperature.  IT  WAS 
THREE  DAYS  before  the  COMMENCEMENT  of  fermentation,  in  each, 
was  indicated  by  the  evolution  of  carbonic  acid  gas,  as  also  by  the 
color  of  the  alcohol,  and  of  the  aromatic  oils  always  generated  in 
such  cases.  I,  therefore,  still  believe  it  to  be  a  FACT  that  grapes  do 
not  produce  alcohol ;  that  it  can  result  only  whei'e  the  juice  has 
been  expressed  from  them,  and  then  not  suddenly  ;  and  that,  where 
the  hand  of  man  interferes  not,  alcohol  is  never  formed." — S.  Spenc.e, 
Chemist  to  the  Yorkshire  Agricultural  Society ;  F.  R.  Lees,  Ap- 
pendix B,  pp.  198  and  199. 

These  justify  the  statement  of  Mr.  Lees,  that  "  neither  ripened 
nor  rotting  grapes  ever  contain  alcohol." 


116         THE  LAWS  OF  FERMENTATION,  AND 

The  analysis  of  wines,  as  published  in  the  Lancet^  Oct. 
26,  1867,  shows  that,  in  one  thousand  grains  of  the  wines 
named,  there  was  only  one  and  one-half  grains  of  albu- 
minous matter,  whilst  in  the  same  amount  of  raw  beef 
there  were  two  hundred  and  seven  grains,  that  is,  one 
hundred  and  fifty-six  times  more  nourishment  in  the  same 
quantity  of  beef  than  in  wine. — Bib.  Com.  p.  370.  The 
analysis  of  the  beer  in  common  use  proves  that  there  is 
more  nourishment  in  one  small  loaf  of  wheat  bread  than 
in  many  gallons  of  beer.  Medical  men  testify  that  the 
flesh  of  habitual  beer-drinkers  becomes  so  poisoned  that 
slight-  wounds  become  incurable,  and  result  often  in 
speedy  death. 

1  Tim.  v.  23,  "  No  longer  water."  See  1  Tim.  iii.  2,  3. 
Titus  i.  7,  8,  "  Not  given  to  wine,"  "  temperate." 

Here  Paul  mentions  the  same  qualifications  for  a  pastor 
as  those  stated  in  his  first  letter  to  Timothy  iii.  3,  "  Not 
given  to  wine."  He  uses  the  same  Greek  word,  mee- 
paroinon,  compounded  of  mee,  a  negative  particle,  para, 
a  preposition,  with  or  near,  and  oinon,  wine,  meaning  not 
near  wine,  which  is  a  happy  apostolic  definition  of  total 
abstinence.  He  adds  temperate,  which,  it  is  pleaded, 
sanctions  moderate  drinking.  The  Greek  word  here  used 
is  ciikratees.  Donnegan,  "  Holding  firm,  mastering  one's 
appetite  or  passions." — New  Testament  Lexicon.  "  Strong, 
stout,  possessed  of  mastery,  master  of  self." — Tit.  i.  8.  It 
is  clear  that  Paul  does  not  contradict  himself  in  this  verse : 
first,  by  saying  the  bishop  must  be  a  total  abstainer — mee, 
not ;  para,  near  ;  oinon^  wine — and  then,  in  the  second 
place,  by  saying  he  must  be  a  moderate  drinker.  What 
he  here  means  by  temperance  applies  to  the  mind  and 
not  to  the  bodily  habits.  Or  if  it  is  contended  that  it 
does  refer  to  the  body,  then  it  means  what  he  says  in 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  117 

1  Cor.  ix.  25,  where  he  uses  the  same  word  in  reference  to 
those  contending  for  the  mastery  in  the  games.  Such 
abstain  totally  from  wine  and  all  excitements,  or  as  Horace 
expresses  it,  "  He  abstains  from  Yenus  and  Bacchus/'  See 
Note,  1  Cor.  ix.  25  and  Acts  xxiv.  25. 

Titus  ii.  2,  3.  The  aged  men  are  exhorted  to  be  sober ^ 
"  temperate."  The  Greek  is  ncephalion,  "  sober,  tempe- 
rate, abstinent  in  respect  to  wine."  In  N.  T.,  metaphor- 
ically, "  vigilant,  circumspect.'' — 1  Tim.  iii.  2,  11 ;  Tit.  ii. 
2.  For  temperate  the  Greek  is  sopkronos,  "sound  of 
mind,  sober-minded,  sedate,  staid."  Temperate,  see  note  • 
on  Tit.  i.  8. 

In  verse  3  the  aged  women  are  exhorted,  "  not  given 
to  much  wine."  See  comment  on  1  Tim.  iii.  8. 

These  were  to  teach  the  young  women  to  be  "  sober." 
Here  the  same  original  word  is  used  which  denotes  sober- 
mindedness.  See  comment  on  1  Tim.  iii.  2.  The  neces- 
sity of  such  an  exhortation  is  obvious  from  the  fact  that 
these,  before  their  conversion,  had  been  idolaters,  and 
who,  in  the  days  of  their  ignorance,  had  given  themselves 
up  to  voluptuous  practices. 

Polybius,  in  a  fragment  of  his  6th  book,  says,  "  Among 
the  Romans,  the  women  were  forbidden  to  drink  (intoxi- 
cating) wine ;  they  drink,  however,  what  is  called  passum, 
made  from  raisins,  which  drink  very  much  resembles 
^Egosthenian  and  Cretan  gleukos  (sweet  wine),  which 
men  use  for  allaying  excessive  thirst." — Nott,  London 
Ed.  p.  80.  See  notes  John  ii.  1-11. 

Western  commenting  on  Acts  ii.  13,  glukus,  new  sweet 
wine,  says,  "  The  Roman  ladies  were  so  fond  of  it,  that 
they  would  first  fill  their  stomachs  with  it,  then  throw  it 
off  by  emetics,  and  repeat  the  draught. — Bib.  Com.  p. 
378. 


118         THE  LAWS  OP  FERMENTATION,  AND 

Dr.  F.  R.  Lees  says,  in  the  same  page,  "We  have  re- 
ferred to  Lucian  for  ourselves,  and  find  the  following  illus- 
tration :  *  I  came,  by  Jove,  as  those  who  drink  gleiikos 
(sweet  wine),  swelling  out  their  stomach,  require  an 
emetic.'  r  These  voluptuous  habits  denoted  such  a  devo- 
tion to  the  enjoyment  of  luxury  and  pleasure,  such  an 
indulgence  in  sensual  gratification,  as  unfitted  these  wo- 
men for  a  station  in  the  Christian  church,  and  for  the 
proper  discharge  of  the  domestic  duties  particularly  noticed 
in  the  text. 

The  Rev.  "W.  H.  Rule,  in  his  brief  enquiry,  speaking 
of  this  unfermented  wine,  says  :  "  A  larger  quantity  might 
be  taken,  and  the  eastern  sot  could  enjoy  himself  longer 
over  the  cup,  than  if  he  were  filled  up  with  fermented  wine, 
without  being  baffled  by  the  senselessness  of  profound 
inebriation. — Nott,  Lond.  Ed.  p.  223.  Mr.  Rule,  though 
no  particular  friend  to  the  temperance  cause,  here  con- 
cedes the  fact  that  there  were  two  kinds  of  wine,  the  fer- 
mented and  the  unfermented. 

1  Peter  i.  13,  "  Be  sober"  See  comments  on  1  Thess. 
v.  7,  p.  25,  where  the  same  word  occurs. 

1  Peter  iv.  1-5,  "  Excess  of  wine,  excess  of  riot."  In 
this  passage  three  facts  are  significant  and  instructive. 
The  first  is,  that  in  their  unconverted  state  these  con- 
verts whom  Peter  addresses  lived  in  the  lusts  of  men, 
wrought  the  will  of  the  Gentiles,  and  walked  in  lascivi- 
ousness,  lusts,  excess  of  wine,  revellings,  banquetings,  and 
abominable  idolatries.  The  second  fact  is,  that  their 
former  companions  thought  it  strange  that,  being  Chris- 
tians, they  would  not  "  run  with  them  to  the  same  excess 
of  riot."  The  third  fact  is,  that  their  former  companions 
spoke  evil  of  them  because  of  their  abstinence. 

It  is  clear  that  the  Christians  named  in  this  passage 


THE    WINES   OF   THE   ANCIENT 


were  abstainers  from  their  former  usages,  and  that  on  this 
account  they  were  spoken  evil  of,  very  much  as  are  the 
total  abstainers  of  the  present  day. 

Oinophlugia  occurs  only  in  this  text,  and  is  a  compound 
of  oinos,  wine,  and  phluo,  to  overflow  =—  a  debauch  with 
wine.  Probably  intoxicating,  though  the  wine  broken 
by  the  filter  was  preferred  by  the  voluptuous  and  dis- 
sipated. 

The  Greek  word  asotia,  in  Eph.  v.  18,  is  rendered  ex- 
cess, and  is  connected  with  wine;  and  means,  literally, 
unsavableness,  utter  depravity,  and  dissoluteness.  In  the 
text,  and  Tit.  i.  6,  it  is  connected  with  riot,  which  means 
overflow,  outpouring  of  dissoluteness,  thus  denoting  the 
same  moral  character.  As  the  two  phrases  occur  in  the 
text,  it  teaches  that  excess  of  wine  and  excess  of  riot  are 
related  to  each  other  as  cause  and  effect  ;  but  excess  of 
wine  no  more  justifies  moderate  drinking  than  excess  of 
riot  justifies  moderate  rioting.  The  design  of  Peter  was 
to  encourage  those  to  whom  he  wrote  to  continue  in  their 
abstinence. 

1  Peter  iv.  7,  "-Be  ye  therefore  sober."  See  1  Tim. 
iii.  2.  The  motive  for  sober-mindedness  is  the  same  as 
Phil.  iv.  5,  which  see. 

1  Peter  v.  8,  "  Sober,  vigilant.     See  1  Thess.  v.  6-8  ; 
Tit.  ii.  2  ;  1  Peter  i.  13  and  iv.  7.     The  sobriety  here 
has  no  reference  to  intoxication,  but  to  the  state  of  mind 
according  with  vigilance.     The  reason  for  wakeful  vigi- 
lance is  the  activity  and  malignity  of  the  devil. 

2  Peter  i.  6,   "  Temperance."     See  Acts  xxiv.  25  ;   1 
Cor.  ix.  25  ;  and  Gal.  v.  25. 

In  the  Revelation  there  are  nine  references  to  wine. 
In  chap.  vi.  6  and  xviii.  13,  wine  and  oil  are  mentioned 
as  articles  of  necessary  comfort  and  merchandise.  In  xiv. 


120  THE    LAWS    OF    FERMENTATION,    AND 

8,  xvii.  2,  and  xviii.  3,  we  read,  "Wine  of  the  wrath  of  her 
fornication,"  "  Drunk  with  the  wine  of  her  fornication," 
and  "  Drunk  of  the  wine  of  her  fornication."  These  are 
figurative,  and  imply  punishment.  In  xiv.  10,  "  Drink 
of  ihe  wine  of  the  wrath  of  God ; "  xvi.  19,  "  Cup  of  the 
wine  of  the  fierceness  of  his  wrath."  In  xiv.  19,  "  Great 
wine-press  of  the  wrath  of  God,"  andxix.  15,  "  Wine-press 
of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  Almighty  God."  These  are 
symbols  of  the  divine  vengeance. 

I  have  now  called  attention  to  every  passage  in  the 
New  Testament  where  wine  is  mentioned,  and  have  given 
to  each  that  interpretation  which  to  me  appeared  just  and 
proper.  How  far  I  have  carried  the  full  conviction  of  my 
readers,  each  one  must  determine  for  himself.  The  results 
recorded  in  these  pages  have  cost  me  years  of  patient  and 
laborious  investigations.  My  own  convictions  have  stead- 
ily deepened  and  become  firmer  as  I  have  canvassed  the 
positions  maintained  by  writers  who  hold  views  widely 
differing  from  my  own.  This,  some  may  think,  is  stub 
born  obstinacy  on  my  part ;  but  I  do  not  thus  judge  my- 
self, as  I  am  conscious,  however  I  may  err,  of  desiring 
only  to  know  the  truth,  and  hold  such  an  understanding 
of  the  Bible  as  will  best  harmonize  the  law  of  God  as 
developed  by  true  science,  and  the  law  of  God  as  written 
in  the  inspired  page. 

I  do  not  say  that  there  are  no  difficulties  connected  with 
the  wine  question.  All  I  ask  is  that  the  students  of  the 
Bible  will  treat  these  with  the  same  candor  and  desire  to 
harmonize  them  that  they  do  the  difficulties  connected 
with  astronomy,  geology,  and  conflicting  historical  state- 
ments. If  the  language  of  the  Bible  can  be  honestly  so 
interpreted  as  to  harmonize  with  the  undisputed  facts 


THE    WINES    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.  121 

developed  by  the  temperance  reformation,  in  relation  to 
the  effects  of  alcoholic  drinks,  with  the  testimony  of  the 
most  intelligent  physicians  and  eminent  chemists,  that 
alcohol  contains  no  nourishment,  will  neither  make  blood 
nor  repair  the  waste  of  the  body,  but  it  is  an  intruder 
and  a  poison ;  this  will  secure  the  firm  friendship  of  many 
who  now  stand  aloof,  and  will  promote  the  temporal, 
spiritual,  and  eternal  happiness  of  mankind. 

TESTIMONY. 

The  following  testimony,  from  four  eminent  scholars, 
may  fortify  the  convictions  already  produced  by  the  facts 
and  reasonings  found  upon  the  preceding  pages : 

PROFESSOR  GEORGE  BUSH. — Mr.  E.  C.  Delavan,  having 
been  referred  to  Professor  Bush,  as  a  learned  Biblical 
scholar,  from  whom  he  might  obtain  correct  information 
as  to  Bible  temperance,  visited  him  in  his  library,  and 
stated  to  him  his  views  on  the  wine  question.  "With 
promptness  he  condemned  them,  and,  referring  to  a  text, 
he  said,  "  This  verse  upsets  your  theory."  "When  asked 
to  refer  to  the  original,  he  did  so,  and,  with  amazement, 
said,  "  No  permission  to  drink  intoxicating  wine  here. 
I  do  not  care  about  wine,  and  it  is  very  seldom  thai  I 
taste  it,  "but  I  have  felt  until  now  at  liberty  to  drink,  in 
moderation,  from  this  verse."  Being  entreated  to  make 
this  a  subject  of  special  and  particular  examination,  he 
said  he  would.  At  a  subsequent  visit  he  thus  greeted 
Mr.  Delavan :  "  You  have  the  whole  ground,  and,  in 
time,  the  whole  Christian  world  will  ~be  obliged  to  adopt 
your  views."  At  the  request  of  Mr.  Delavan,  he  pub- 
lished his  views  in  the  New  York  Observer  (Enquirer, 
Aug.,  1869).  This  testimony  is  the  more  valuable,  as  it 


122  THE  LAWS   OP  FERMENTATION,   AND 

is  not  only  the  result  of  a  careful  examination  of  the 
original  languages,  but  the  honest  surrender  to  the  force 
of  evidence  of  a  previous  conviction. 

EEV.  DR.  E.  !N"oTT,  late  President  of  Union  College, 
in  his  fourth  lecture  says :  "  That  unintoxicating  wines 
existed  from  remote  antiquity,  and  were  held  in  high 
estimation  by  the  wise  and  good,  there  can  be  no  reason- 
able doubt.  The  evidence  is  unequivocal  and  plenary." 
"  We  know  that  then,  as  now,  inebriety  existed ;  and 
then,  as  now,  the  taste  for  inebriating  wines  may  have 
been  the  prevalent  taste,  and  intoxicating  wines  the  pop- 
ular wines.  Still  unintoxicating  wines  existed,  and  there 
were  men  who  preferred  such  wines,  and  who  have  left 
on  record  the  avowal  of  that  preference." — Nott^  Lon. 
Ed.  p.  85. 

PROFESSOR  MOSES  STUART. — "  My  final  conclusion  is 
this,  viz. :  that,  whenever  the  Scriptures  speak  of  wine  as 
a  comfort,  a  blessing,  or  a  libation  to  God,  and  rank  it 
with  such  articles  as  corn  and  oil,  they  mean — they  can 
mean — only  such  wine  as  contained  no  alcohol  that  could 
have  a  mischievous  tendency  •  that  wherein  they  denounce 
it,  prohibit  it,  and  connect  it  with  drunkenness  and  revel- 
ling, they  can  mean  only  alcoholic  or  intoxicating  wine. 

"  If  I  take  the  position  that  God's  Word  and  works 
entirely  harmonize,  I  must  take  the  position  that  the  case 
before  us  is  as  I  have  represented  it  to  be.  Facts  show 
that  the  ancients  not  only  preserved  wine  unfermented, 
but  regarded  it  as  of  a  higher  flavor  and  finer  quality 
than  fermented  wine.  Facts  show  that  it  was,  and  might 
be,  drunk  at  pleasure  without  any  inebriation  whatever. 
On  the  other  hand,  facts  show  that  any  considerable 
quantity  of  fermented  wine  did  and  would  produce  ine- 
briation ;  and  also  that  a  tendency  towards  it,  or  a  disttir- 


THE    WINES    OP   THE    ANCIENTS.  123 

bance  of  the  fine  tissues  of  the  physical  system,  was  and 
would  be  produced  by  even  a  small  quantity  of  it ;  full 
surely  if  this  was  often  drunk. 

"  What,  then,  is  the  difficulty  in  taking  the  position 
that  the  good  and  innocent  wine  is  meant  in  all  cases 
where  it  is  commended  and  allowed;  or  that  the  alco- 
holic or  intoxicating  wine  is  meant  in  all  cases  of  prohi- 
bition and  denunciation  ? 

"  I  cannot  refuse  to  take  this  position  without  virtually 
impeaching  the  Scriptures  of  contradiction  or  inconsis- 
tency. I  cannot  admit  that  God  has  given  liberty  to 
persons  in  health  to  drink  alcoholic  wine,  without  admit- 
ting that  his  Word  and  his  works  are  at  variance.  The 
law  against  such  drinking,  which  he  has  enstamped  on 
our  nature,  stands  out  prominently — read  and  assented 
to  by  all  sober  and  thinking  men — is  his  "Word  now  at 
variance  with  this  ?  Without  reserve,  I  am  prepared  to 
answer  in  the  negative."  • 

It  was  after  an  exhaustive  examination,  the  details  of 
which  are  contained  in  his  printed  letter  of  sixty-four 
pages  octavo,  that  he  gave  to  the  world  this  full  and  une- 
quivocal testimony  we  have  just  recited. 

REV.  ALBERT  BAKNES,  in  his  commentary  on  John  ii. 

10,  says :  "  The  wine  of  Judea  was  the  pure  juice  of  the 

•  grape,  without  any  mixture  of  alcohol,  and  commonly 

weak  and  harmless.     It  was  the  common  drink  of  the 

people,  and  did  not  tend  to  produce  intoxication." 

All  acquainted  with  Mr.  Barnes  know  that  he  would 
not  make  such  a  statement  until  he  had  given  the  subject 
a  patient  and  thorough  examination.  Having  scrutinized 
all  the  authorities,  he  has  thus  recorded  upon  the  printed 
page  his  clear  and  honest  convictions. 

Beside  these  testimonies,  a  goodly  number  of  men,  well 


124  THE   LAWS    OP   FERMENTATION. 

read  in  ancient  lore  and  learned  in  the  original  languages 
of  the  "Word  of  God,  have,  by  patient  study,  been  led  to 
the  same  conclusion.  The  company  of  such  is  rapidly 
increasing  both  in  Great  Britain  and  America.  We  do 
not  despair,  but  confidently  believe  that  the  time  is  not 
far  distant  when  no  drinker,  nor  vender,  nor  defender  of 
alcoholic  wines,  will  find  a  shelter  and  a  house  of  refuge 
in  the  Scriptures  of  God.  LET  THERE  BE  LIGHT  ! 


INDEX. 


Acetous,  16, 18,  25. 

Adams's  Antiquities,  29,  38,  39. 

^Eneus,  41. 

^gosthenian,  44. 

Aged  men,  117. 

Ahsis,  59. 

Aigleuces,  37. 

Aintab,  32. 

Albanian,  41. 

Alcohol,  15, 17,  88, 114  note. 

Aleppo.  30. 

Allar,  66. 

Alsop,  Robt.,  30. 

Alvord,  86. 

Amethyston  wine,  42. 

Amphora,  37,  43,  77. 

Authon's  Diet.,  15,  30,  34,  35,  38,  46,  47, 

90. 
Antiquities,  Adams's,  29,  38,  39. 

Smith's,  29,  34,  37, 45,  46,  76, 

90,  110. 

Aquinas,  Thomas,  83. 
Arabia,  61. 
Aristotle,  27,  42,  45. 
Arcadia  wine,  27. 
Ashishah,  60. 
Asia  Minor,  18,  32. 
Athenaeus,  43,  49, 109. 
Attic  honey,  49. 
August,  21. 
Augustine,  87. 
Authorized  Version,  53. 

Bacchus,  figure  of,  73. 
Bacchus,  12,  29,  73. 

Anti-,  12, 16,  18,  25,  37,  41. 
Baptist,  John,  77. 
Bad  wine,  63. 
Barnes,  Albert,  63,  90, 123. 
Barry,  E.,  40,  50. 
Beale,  Dr.,  112. 
Beaumont,  Dr.,  113. 
Blessings,  67,  68,  70. 
Bible  and  Science,  13,  52. 

"    Commentary,  9. 
Bibline  sweet,  43. 
Bishops,  106. 

Bloomfield,  S.  T.,  90, 100,  101. 
Blood,  emblem,  7k 

"     of  vine,  83. 
Boerhave,  H.,  26. 
Boiled  wine,  24,  26,  32,  59. 
Bottles,  64,  75. 
Bowring,  Dr.,  29. 


Brown,  W.  G.,  28. 
Bush,  Prof.,  121. 
Calmet,  A.,  25. 
Calabrians,  35. 
Cana  wedding,  85. 
Candia,  30. 
Carenuin,  29. 
Carr,  T.  S.,  38,  40. 
Castratuin,  33. 
Cato,  48. 
Chaldee,  61. 

Chambers' s  Cyclopaedia,  14,  76. 
Chaptal,  Count,  17.  88. 
Chemical  science,  22,  26,  36,  39,  51. 
Chrysostom,  87. 
Cider,  41. 
Clark,  Adam,  74. 
"     D.  E..  21. 

Classification  of  texts,  12,  62. 
Clement,  83. 
Climate,  18, 19. 

Columella,  27,  37,  38,  42,  48, 76. 
Concessions,  11. 
Contrast  of  texts,  71,  72. 
Cook,  Capt,  19. 
Corlaer's  Hook,  10. 
Corn,  67,  69. 
Covetous,  99. 
Creature  of  God,  112. 
Crete,  30. 

Damascus,  32. 

Dandalo,  Count,  40. 

Dandini,  21. 

Dates,  55. 

Davy,  Sir  Humphry,  88, 114. 

Deacons,  111. 

Decomposition,  18. 

Defrutum,  27,  30,  59. 

Delavan,  E.  C.,  23  121. 

Delphin  Notes,  35,  43,  109. 

Democritus,  27. 

Depurating,  38. 

Dibbs,  30,  31. 

Diehl,  19. 

Distillation,  33,  55. 

Donavan,  16,  24,  27,  33. 

Donnegan,  89,  93, 101, 106,  107,  110,  116. 

Drinks,  105. 

Drinking,  Christ,  77. 

Drugs,  47. 

Drunkards,  99, 108. 

Drunken,  92, 100, 106. 

Duff,  Dr.  H.,  24. 


120 


INDEX. 


Eating,  Christ,  77. 
Edmunds,  Dr.,  112. 
Effeminatum,  33. 
Elsworth,  Hon.  O.,  44. 
Encyclopaedia,  London,  40. 
Engedi,  20,  22. 
English  generic  words,  60. 
Epsuma,  29. 
Eshcol,  20,  22. 
Excess,  118. 
Expediency,  95. 
Experiments,  114  note. 
Exploration,  10. 
Eunuchrnm,  33. 

Fabroni,  17, 19. 
Fermentation,  15,  30. 

"  prevented,  24. 

First-fruits,  66. 

"    eennon,  10. 
Filtration,  24,  33-36. 
Florence, 23. 
Fruit  cake,  60. 

"    preserved,  23. 

"    Bweet,  18. 

"    of  vine,  82. 
Fumigation,  39,  43. 

Gall,  64. 

Gardiner,  39. 

Generic  words,  54,  60. 

Gesenins,  80. 

Gill,  Dr.,  64. 

Gleukos,  14,  15,  44,  46,  74,  89,  90,  91, 117. 

Glukus,  42,  43,  89, 117. 

Gleuxis,  29. 

Gluten,  16, 17,  24,  33,  34,  36,  37,  57. 

Good  wine,  66. 

Grapes,  18. 

"       juice,  24,  26,  27,  31-34,  46,  51,  54, 

59,  73,  74.  83. 
molasses,  31. 
Gray,  75. 
Greek  words,  60. 
Green,  T.  S.,  90, 101. 

Hall.  Joseph,  87. 

Harmer,  39. 

Hebrew  words,  other,  59. 

Helbon,  30. 

Helen,  47. 

Henderson,  44 

Henry,  Matthew,  45. 

Hepsirna,  59. 

Herod.  23. 

Hesiod,  49. 

Hippocrates,  43,  49. 

History,  9. 

Holmes,  Rev.  Henry,  31. 

Homer,  42,  43,  47,  49. 

Honey,  Attic,  49. 

Horace,  28,  35,  42. 100,  109. 

Horn,  Hartwell,  21. 

Hot  climate,  19. 

Inspired  original  text,  8,  54. 

Inspissated,  26. 

Intoxicating  wine,  31,  32,  35,  61. 


Introduction,  7. 
Italy,  35,  49. 

Jacobus,  Dr.,  32,  89. 
Jahn,  Dr.,  20. 
Jericho,  21. 
John  Baptist,  77. 
Johnson's  Dictionary,  15. 
Josephus,  23,  74,  90. 
Judging,  105. 
Juice,  73,  74. 
June,  21. 

Kesroan,  30. 

Khamah,  64. 

Khahmatz,  80. 

Khemer,  58. 

Kitto,  18, 19,  29,  90,  55, 56,  57,  90. 

Koht,  J.  G.,  48. 

Lacedaemonians,  27. 

Lancet,  analysis  of  wine,  116. 

Latin  words,  60. 

Laurie,  Dr.,' 46,  61,  82. 

Leaven,  80,  81. 

Lebanon,  21,  29,  30. 

Lees,  Dr.,  9, 36,  51, 54, 56, 58, 59, 61, 72,  lia 

Leiber,  30. 

Lewis,  Taylor,  9,  54. 

Lightfoot  51. 

Liebig,  17,  25,  26,  59,  76,  81,  8&,  115. 

Littleton's  Dictionary,  14. 

Lixivium,  37. 

Lord's  Supper,  79. 

Lowth,  Bishop,  74. 

Mandelsl9, 18. 

Mamlaqqim,  60. 

Mariti,  21. 

Masada,  23. 

Meats,  105. 

Medical  enquiries,  45. 

Meronian,  49. 

Mesek,  59. 

Mill,  J.  S.,  62. 

Milton,  75. 

Miracle,  86. 

Mixed  wine,  50. 

Mocking,  89: 

Moderation,  105. 

Monroe,  Henry  ^  88. 

Morrison,  Dr.,  114. 

Mullen,  Dr.,  19. 

Murphy,  Dr.,  55. 

Must,  27,  37,  38,  39,  41,  46, 91. 

Mytelene,  45. 

Natural  taste,  22. 
Nau,  21. 
Nazarite,  77,  78. 
Neitchutz,  21. 
Neuman,  C..  29. 
Nevin,  J.  W.,  22. 
New  bottles,  75. 
"    wine,  75  89. 

Newcome,  Archbishop,  04, 101. 
Nicander,  41. 
Nicochaus,  49. 
Niebuhr,  82. 


INDEX. 


127 


Nitrogen,  81. 

Nordheimer,  Prof.,  64. 

Nott's  Lectures,  8,  54,  72,  74, 122. 

October,  21. 

Offerings,  66. 

Oil,  66. 

Oinos,  14,  41,  43,  61,  74,  81. 

Old  bottles,  75. 

"  wine,  27. 
Oleum  gleucinum,  38. 
Olshausen,  104. 
Olympic  games,  100. 
Opimian  wine,  27. 
Originality,  7. 

Original  text  inspired,  8,  54. 
Owen,  D.  J.,  78. 
Palladius,  27. 
Palestine,  19,  20,  22,  23. 
Palm,  18,  56. 
Passover,  51,  79. 
Passum,  44. 
Parker,  Dr.  W.,  113. 
Parkhurst,  64. 
Parkinson,  26. 
Peabody,  A.  P.,  80. 
Pereira,  Dr.,  17. 
Pharaoh,  72. 
Pippini,  Senior,  23. 
Plato,  45. 
Plautus,  41. 

Pliny,  23, 34, 35, 36, 41, 48, 59, 108, 109, 110. 
Plutarch,  34;  45,  74. 
Poison,  63,  64. 
Polybius,  44, 117. 
Portland,  Duke  of,  21. 
Potter,  Archbishop,  27. 
Pramnian  wine,  49. 
Preserving  fruits,  23. 
"         wine,  25. 
Prohibitory  Roman  law,  45. 
Protopos,  44,  45, 109, 110. 

Question,  the,  13. 

Reading  Cyrus,  30,  40. 
Receipts  for  wine,  37,  38,  39,  47. 
Rees'  Cyclopaedia,  14. 
Retimo,  30. 

Robinson,  E.,  84,  89, 100, 106, 112. 
Robson,  Smylie,  32. 
Rockingham,  Marquis,  21. 
Roman  prohibitory  law,  45. 

"       wines,  27,  39,  41,  46. 

44      women,  44. 
Rule,  W.  H.,  46, 118. 
Russell,  Dr.  A.,  30. 

Sabe,  59. 

Salt,  81. 

Sapa,  27,  30,  59. 

Science,  13,  22,  26,  36,  90. 

Scriptures,  53. 

Gen.  xxvii.  28,  37,  67 

xxix.  11,  20 

xl.  11,  74 

xlix.  11,  19 

Exodus  xii.  8,  39,  80 


Scriptures : 

Exodus  xii.  42,  60 

xxxiv.  25,  81 

Levit.  ii.  11,  G7 

x.  9,  60 

Numb.  vi.  3,  60 

xiii.  24,  20 

xviii.  12,  66 

xxviii.  7,  60 

Deut.  vii.  13,  67 

viii.  7,  20 

xi.  14,  68 

xiv.  26,  60 

xxix.  6,  60 

xxxii.  14,  20,  59 

xxxii.  24,  64 

Judges  ix.  13,  69,  70 

xiii.  4,  7,  14,        60 

1  Sam.  i.  15,  60 

2  Sam.  vi.  10,  60 
2  Kings  xviii.  32,  20 
1  Chron.  xvi.  3,  60 
Ezra  vi.  9,  59 

vii.  22,  59 

Nehem.  viii.  10.  60 

x.  37,   '  66 

x.  39,  57,  67 

xiii.  5, 12,  57 

Job  vi.  4,  64 

Psalms  iv.  7,  69 

Iviii.  4,  64 

Ix.  3.  65 

Ixix.  12,  60 

lxxv.8,  48,50,59,60,65 

cii.9,  60 

civ.  14  69,  70,  86 

cxl.  3,  64 

Prov.  iii.  10,  57,  68 

iv.  17,  63 

ix.  2-5,         50,  60,  70 

xx.  1,  60 

xxiii.  29-31,  59,  63 

xxv.  25,  70 

Cant.  ii.  5,  60 

v.  1,  70 

vii.  9,  70 

Isaiah  i.  22,  59 

v.  2,  74 

v.  11,  60 

v.  22,  47,  60,  65 

xxiv.  7,  57 

xxiv.  9,  60 

xxvii.  2,  20,  59 

xxviii.  7,  60 

xxix.  9,  60 

Ii.  17,  65 

Iv.  1.  70 

Ivi.  12,  60,  63 

Ixii.  8,  57,  68 

Ixv.  8,  57,  68 

Jeremiah  xxv.  15,  48,  65 

xlviii.  11,         60 

Dan.  v.  1-4,  59 

Hosea  iii.  1,  60 

iv.  14,  57 

iv.  18,  59 

vii.  5,  64 

ix.  2,  57 


128 


INDEX. 


Scriptures : 

Joel  i.  5, 
i.  10, 
iii.  18, 
Amos  ix.  13, 
Micah  ii.  11, 
vi.  15, 
Nah.  i.  14, 
Hab.  ii.  5, 
ii.  15, 
Hag.  i.  11, 
-le^i. 


57 

59,68 
59 
60 
57 


Zech.  ix.  17, 
Matt.  ix.  17, 

xi.  18, 19, 

xv.  34,  BO 

xxi.  33,  79 

xxiv.  38,  79 

xxvi.  26,  71,  79 

Mark  ii.  22,  75,  83 

vi.  38,  86 

xii.  1,  83 

xiv.  22-25,  71,  83 

xv.  23,  83 

Luke  i.  15,  82 

v.  37,  75,  84 
Yii.  33, 

X.  34,  84 

xii.  19,  45,  84 

xvii.  27, 28,  84 

xx.  9,  84 

xxi.  34,  84 

John  ii.  1-11,  85,  89 

Acts  ii.  13,  89,  90 

xxiv.  25,  91 

Rom.  xiii.  13,  92, 103 

xiv.  13,  92 

xiv.  14-21.  95 

1  Cor.  vi.  10,  12,  100 

viii.  9,  93 

viii.  4-13,  100 

ix.  25,  100 

x.  16,  71 

x.  22-30,  96,  IOC 

x.  33,  96 

xi.  20-34,  100 

Gal.  v.  19-24,  103 

Eph.  v.  18,  103,  104 

Phil.  iv.  5,  105 

Col.  ii.  36,  105 

1  Thess.  v.  7,  106 

1  Tim.  iii.  2,  3,  10,  106, 107 

iii.  8,  111 

iii.  11,  112 

iv.  4,  112 

v.  23,  108, 116 

Titus  i.  6,  104 

ii.2,3,  117 

1  Pet.  i.  13,  118 

iv.l,  5,7,104,118,119 

v.7,8,  119 

2  Pet.  i.  6,  119 
Rev.  vi.  6,  119 

xiv.  8, 10,  19,  120 

xvi.  19,  120 

xvii.  2,  120 

xviii.  3,  120 

xviii.  13,  119 

six.  15,  120 


Seixas,  Prof.,  12. 

Seor,  80. 

Sermon,  first,  10. 

Shakar,  55,. 56,  60. 

Shanks,  G.H.,  58. 

Shaw,  Dr.,  19. 

Shemarim,  60. 

Sick,  wine  for,  34. 109. 

Smart,  Prof.,  42,  43. 

Smith's  Antiquities,  29,  34,  37,  45,  46,  78, 

90,  110. 
Smith,  Dr.  Kli,  30,  32. 

"      Wm.,  Diet.,  15,  86,  91. 
Social  usages,  9. 
Sober,  107, 112, 118,  119. 
Sorek,  20,  22. 
Soveh,  59. 
Spain,  23,  41,  44,  49. 
Stuart,  Prof.,  13,  43,  51,  54,  55,  56,  57,  72, 

80,  84,  122. 
Stum,  40. 
Stumbling,  92. 
Subsidence,  24,  36. 
Succus,  34. 

Sulphur,  24,  39,  40,  41. 
Supper,  Lord's,  79. 
Sweet  fruits,  18. 

*•      natural  taste,  22. 
Swift,  Judge,  44. 
Swineburn,  23. 
Syria,  wine  of,  28,  32,  49. 
Syraeneum,  59. 
Syrup,  16,  25. 

Taste,  Bweet,  natural,  22. 
Telemachus,  47. 
Temple,  S.  G.,  19. 
Temperance,  91, 103, 119. 
Temperate,  100, 103. 
Temperature.  Palestine,  19,  21, 22. 
Testimony.  12, 121, 122, 123. 
Thermopohum,  49,  50. 
Thayer,  40,  80. 
Theophrastus,  49. 
Texts,  classified,  12,  62. 
Thracian  wine,  49. 
Tirosh,  57,  58,  68. 
Translations  of  Bible,  53. 
Trapp,  Dr.,  28. 
Treat,  Oapt.,  35, 49. 
Trench,  Dr.,  87. 
Turner,  17, 81, 114. 

Unfermented  wine,  40, 49,  51, 56,  79,  90. 
Uuintoxicating,  35,  42, 109. 
Usages,  social,  9. 
Ure,  Dr.,  14,  24,  33,  36,  39. 

Varro,  48. 
Venetians,  30. 
Vigilant,  107. 
Vim,  vi,  vires,  33. 
Vinous,  16, 17, 18,  25. 
Viuum,  61. 
Volney,  28. 
Virgil,  28,  44. 

Walker' e  Diet.,  15. 


INDEX.  129 


Warm  climate,  18.  Wines,  preserved,  25. 

Warren  Cap,,  22.  «»&—,* 

Webster,  Noah,  Diet.,  14.  Worcester,  15 

Wedding,  Cana,  85.  Words,  generic  54. 
Welbeck,'21.  '     "JS^68' 

Westein,  117.  free  k,  60. 

Whiston,Wm.,23.  SB&ftia 

Whitby,  Dr.  ,  100.  English,  60. 


good,  66. 
new,  75. 
mixed,  50.  Zouk,  29. 


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